CLOSE TO CHRIST (2)
Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us (Rom. 8:34). If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth (Col. 3:1-2) In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also. This is why Paul tells us to have our treasure—our attention, our focus—in heaven. This is not a complicated concept. Christ is simply to be what we dwell upon and think about daily.
Every waking moment, there is a thought in our minds. The human mind is never completely blank. There are times when we do not give deliberate consideration to the thoughts we entertain and so our minds go where they will. There is no way that we can control every thought that comes through. But the goal is to control the bulk of them. We must desire the pleasure of the Lord, and nothing we do will please him more than for us to think about him, to ponder him, to meditate upon his word, and love him. Since the love of God is the greatest commandment—that which God wants us to do above all else, to love him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength—there is nothing we can do that would be a better use of our time than to think about Christ. We cannot love him without thinking about him.
We spend more time worrying about what other people think about us than we do about what Christ thinks. What he thinks of us is no mystery. He has proven without question how valuable we are to him. God proves his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). Jesus is as close as the mention of his name. Oh, that we who belong to him could become aware of His constant nearness.
If we would remember that life—and living our lives for Jesus—is a matter of small steps. It is not a matter of great undertakings or years of dedication or even weeks, but it is a daily matter. That is, if we get our days right, then our weeks, months and years will take care of themselves.
The nearness of Christ should be our constant theme. It is not a matter of bringing Christ to us or in persuading him to abide with us. It is a matter of recognizing his nearness. Christ wants to be close to us. So much so, he is close to us. Our responsibility, then, is to recognize his closeness. To celebrate it and rejoice in it. It is ours. Being close to Christ is as simple as opening our eyes to the way things are.
Dewayne Dunaway
