The Plumbline

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3) The word 'since' suggests a completed act - it is based on something having happened. Between something happening (you having said yes to Jesus) and the present time, you have been raised to new life. You are no longer living according to the same standards, desires, or plans. Now we set our sights on something 'higher' than we ever set them before. Our focus changes - we no longer maintain an 'earthly only' focus but learn how to refocus our attention on Christ.  Too many times, we focus on the earthly things and don't spend very much time at all focusing on the things God wants us to learn about him. We get consumed by jobs, household chores, and all...

Success is the sum of small efforts - repeated day in and day out. (Robert Collier) Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil. (Proverbs 4:25-27) I don't know about you, but my greatest 'downfalls' in life come whenever I get my eyes off of the path Jesus has laid out for me to follow. A 'fixed focus' is not as easy as some may seem, is it? There are lots and lots of distractions that can take our eyes off of that path and get us all twitterpated in the process. Whenever we get 'sidetracked', our attention has been purposefully directed away from the subject we are supposed to focus upon and toward another. It isn't accidental, as some may imagine, because there is a 'force' behind that distraction that is designed to attract our attention! Purposeful 'redirection' of our path is one of Satan...