What controls your attention: what is in front of you today, or what is waiting for you later? Josh White used the church’s own mortgage story to make the point. Grace Bible Church can look forward to being debt-free, but that future goal cannot replace the mission God has given us today. The Christian life requires both perspectives. We serve Christ now while we wait for what He has promised later.
Set Your Mind on Things Above
Paul begins Colossians 3 by connecting the believer’s present life to Christ’s present position and future return:
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
— Colossians 3:1-4
Josh White emphasized the two commands: seek and set. This is not merely thinking about heaven once in a while. It means bringing our desires, priorities, and decisions into agreement with Christ. Jesus illustrated that kind of commitment with the parable of the hidden treasure. When the man found something of lasting value, he sold everything and bought the field. Once we understand the worth of Christ, we do not keep searching for a better center for our lives. We go all in.
Living for Now
Christians are not waiting passively for the future. God has given us work to do today, and He gives us the power to do it.
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature.”
— 2 Peter 1:3-4
Josh White connected this promise to the ordinary beginning of an ordinary day. We can wake up thinking about our own to-do list and our own strength, or we can ask God to empower us to want and do what pleases Him. Peter then describes the qualities that should grow in us: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. God’s power is not an excuse for passivity. It produces a life that becomes useful and fruitful.
God has also given us a purpose now. Those who are in Christ are new creations, and they are ambassadors carrying the message of reconciliation:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:17-18
That is why the church gathers, teaches children, serves families, and shares the gospel. Today is the time God has given us to live faithfully and call others to faith in Christ.
Living for Later
The future gives meaning and direction to the present. Paul describes our current bodies as temporary tents and the resurrection life as a permanent home:
“For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:1
Josh White also reminded us that our future includes standing before Christ. That judgment is not a judgment for the sins already covered by the cross. It is an accounting of how we used this life. Christ tells us about that coming moment so we can live today with the right priorities instead of reaching the end and wishing we had known sooner.
We are God’s children now, and one day we will see Christ as He is and be made like Him. That hope changes how we spend money, choose goals, serve the church, and respond to temporary disappointments. This life matters, but it is not all there is. We live now in view of later.
So What?
Some of us are so focused on the future that we neglect today’s obedience. Others are so absorbed in today that we forget where history is going. The answer is not choosing one and ignoring the other. Seek Christ above, receive His power for today, fulfill His mission now, and make decisions in light of the home and life He has promised later.
As Josh White summarized through Galatians 2:20, the Christian life is no longer centered on self: Christ lives in us. We are bought by His death, sustained by His grace, and headed toward His presence. Go all in on Christ—now and later.
Scripture References
- Colossians 3:1-4 — Seeking and setting our minds on things above
- Matthew 6:19-20 — Treasures in heaven
- 2 Peter 1:3-8 — God’s power and growth in godliness
- 2 Corinthians 5:1, 10, 17-20 — Our future home, judgment, and present mission
- 1 John 3:1-3 — God’s children now and Christlikeness later
- Galatians 2:20 — Christ living in the believer