Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…

“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
Colossians 3: 2 (RSV)

Certainly we’ve all noticed the incessant messages of the world calling us to be who the messages suggest we should be.

To the things of the earth—our temporary living place.

A never-ending stream from the news media, television programming, advertisements, suggestions of product we can’t live without, and the discourse from the fans and critics in the world of sports and entertainment.

Messages calling out to children, youth, younger and older adults—“children of all ages”—and suggesting the way to a journey assuring success, acceptance and achievement.

Poking at an innate need we all have to feel fulfilled in our lives.

To feel worthy and important.

To be embraced as valued and needed.

And ultimately trying to define who we are or should be.

Establishing though, too often, an identity based upon stuff acquired, ladders climbed, championships achieved, money earned and image attained in the world around us—near and far. With farther always being better.

Until a sense of emptiness sets in.

And all the stuff is gone, the trophies are tarnished, the applause has died, and the journey ends.

A hollow feeling begins to overcome you.

And you’re not sure how to define the legacy you are leaving behind.

Instead, the Apostle Paul, inspired by God, reminds us every day to set our minds on the things above.

Not on the things the world lifts up as important.

To be sensitive to a calling from above to be all God created us to be.

To listen for and follow His call to higher duty—to serve God, and with God to serve others, rather than self.

To a sensitivity reminding us to continually check our priorities to assure ourselves they are aligned with the things above.

And then, time and again, to rebalance the time spent on the pursuit of things above, versus on the things below on earth.

To realign again and again the purpose, the mission and direction of our lives, consistent with the things above rather than the things on earth.

All leading us to a sense of lasting fulfillment and satisfaction in our lives.

A feeling of eternal worth, doing what God defines as important, needed and valued—both here and for eternity.

Through a life lived aligned with God.

On balance with the things above.

In His Name–Scott