Where Are Your Affections?
"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:1-2).
Paul is not questioning the fact that the Colossians had been raised unto the new life in Christ, nor is he saying "if ye are one who has been raised with Christ." In effect, he is saying, "Since indeed ye have been raised with Christ." Or maybe it would be better to say, "if then (as is the case) you have been raised together with Christ." In other words, Paul is encouraging them, "Since it is the case that you have been raised with Christ, seek those things which are above."
The "things which are above" are to be sought (vs. 1). These are the same "things above" upon which the affection is to be set (vs. 2). In other words, "seek" (vs. 1) equals "set your affection" (vs. 2). Obviously, there is in this passage a contrast between "things above" and "things on the earth." These "things on the earth" correspond to "the world" that John forbids us to love (1 John 2:15).
Focus, for a moment, your attention on the word "affection." It means "to direct one's mind to a thing, to seek or strive for" (Thayer, p. 658). Notice its use in Matthew 16:23, "for thou SAVOUREST not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." It is also used in Romans 8:6, "For they that are after the flesh do MIND the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit." In Philippians 3:19, Paul wrote of those "who MIND earthly things." It is unquestionable, is it not, what Paul meant in Colossians 3:1-2.
Where should one strive to place his affection? Where should one direct his mind, to seek or strive for? Without doubt we answer, "on things above."
Notice some things on which we should not be guilty of placing our affection.
1. On self - Luke 18:9-14; Acts 8:9; 2 Timothy 3:2-9
2. On money - 1 Timothy 6:10; Mark 10:24; Acts 5:1-11
3. Pleasure - Hebrews 11:25; 1 Timothy 5:6; 2 Timothy 3:4
4. Pre-eminence - Colossians 1:18 (Christ must be pre-eminent); 3 John 9
5. On things on the earth - 1 John 2:15-17
6. Praises of men - John 12:42-43
Dear reader, WHERE ARE YOUR AFFECTIONS today?
He who offers God a second place offers Him no place at all.
From Our Archives, 1995
By: Tom Bright