Lynn H. Blackburn

Colossians 3:2 ~ Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (ESV)

Several years ago, my husband and I attended a Weekend to Remember marriage conference. Have you ever been to one? They are excellent and I highly recommend them!

I used to think  marriage conferences were for people whose marriages were in shambles. But after spending a weekend focused on my marriage, I had a change of heart. I now think marriage conferences are best for people whose marriages are just fine.

Because just fine marriages have a nasty habit of falling apart.

Why?

Because we stop putting any effort into them. Everything is okay.

Until one day, it isn’t.

Did the problems happen overnight? Of course not.

So what happened?

As I learned at our first conference, there are no static relationships. You are either moving toward oneness or moving away from it. There is no middle ground. Either you put the effort into continuously improving your marriage, or it will erode and without intervention, collapse.

The same is true of our minds.

There is no such thing as a happy medium. Left alone, our minds will return to their default settings. Which, in my case, means I’ll be focused on the most important person in my world.

Me.

My attitude, mood, and general outlook on life will be based on how I’m being treated. If I’m being overlooked or overworked then my life is terrible. If I’m being cherished and adored then my life is fabulous.

Your default setting might not look quite as selfish and self-absorbed as mine, but everyone’s mind will default to earthly settings.

You are either renewing your mind and setting it on things above, or it is set on things of the earth. There is no middle ground. Either we make a conscious and continuous effort to change our mindset or our minds become deeper entrenched in the things of earth.

This whole renewing thing? It’s just like a marriage. It requires regular maintenance.
Every day.
For as long as we live.

As we dive into a new week, we’re going to look at specific passages that talk about what we are to set our minds on. I hope you’ll join us!

If this is your first visit, we’re deep into 31 Days of Renewing. You can see previous posts here.