Mineral Springs Church of Christ Podcast
Mineral Springs Church of Christ Podcast
Seek And Set Above
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What if a single aim could simplify your decisions, steady your emotions, and align your plans for the year ahead? We sit with Colossians 3 and the charge to “seek the things above,” tracing how identity in Christ—buried with him in baptism and raised to new life—reshapes every moment of our days. Not as a retreat from earthly responsibilities, but as a new center that orders them: one life, one core, one direction.
We unpack the situation in Colossae, where competing spiritual shortcuts fractured a church, and contrast that noise with Paul’s clear map: seek and set. With vivid analogies—from shopping for clothes that fit to choosing the right shoe size—we show how a set mind dramatically reduces confusion and compromise. Knowing what you’re after eliminates distractions. When Christ is first, options sort themselves, boundaries become natural, and you stop “shopping” for lives that do not fit. We dig into the heart-level questions too: Are you raised with Christ? What is your heart set on? Is your current pursuit aligned with God’s will or just your own momentum?
From there, we talk about planning a year that holds promise. Picture December now, but paint it around God’s priorities. Career moves, financial goals, and academic milestones can flourish only when the foundation is right. Being hidden with Christ is not abstract theology; it’s a lived posture that alters how you treat people, choose rooms, set schedules, and handle pressure. You can enjoy good things—shoes, cars, travel—without letting them sit on the throne. First things first is not moralism; it’s freedom, stability, and joy.
If this resonates, listen and reflect with us, then share your aim for 2026. Subscribe, leave a review to help others find the show, and pass this along to a friend who needs a clearer center.
I was absolutely misled. Some time ago, a few months ago, I asked a few of you if you knew God had smiled at me and you told me no. And then you sang it this morning. So now that I know you know it, we're gonna sing it.
SPEAKER_00:Colossians chapter number three. Colossians chapter number three.
Anderson George:We'll commence at verse number one, we'll culminate at verse number three. Colossians three, beginning at verse number one, ending at verse number three. Scripture says Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. If you read that, say amen. For the time as I stand before you from this pericope of text, I want to exposit and explain the demonic idea seek and set. The book of Colossians is written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Colossae, and the church in Colossae has a unique problem. The church in Colossae is divided because there are many persons who believe they understand God better than everybody else. And so there are differences in the church explaining you should go to God this way, you should go to God this way. And Paul has to set all of these doctrinal differences straight. And as he sets them straight, he then wants the church to know that you should be singular-minded, you should be focused in how you live. And this is where I want to pick up the conversation because we normally speak of our lives in a compartmented sense. What I mean by that is if you're like me, you have a social life, a work life, a marriage life, you have some life, you have no life. We all have some compartmental lives. Social life, work life, marriage life, church life, this life, that life. But then I realize what happens is when you start to compartmentalize your life like that, you may act differently depending on which life you're living. Now you're looking at me funny. So I may not act the same way in my social life as I do in my work life, and I may not act or be the same person in my work life and social life the way I am in my church life. And I had to come to the conclusion that I'm not schizophrenic, I don't have multiple personalities, therefore, I also don't have multiple lives. I have one life, and in that one life, I need to have a theme, I need to have a directive that organizes, that sets how I live in every aspect of my life. Does that make sense, Church? I am one singular individual, and I must have a particular purpose, a particular mindset that dictates how I operate in a social setting that up that dictates how I operate when I'm at Harding, that dictates how I operate when I'm in mineral springs, that dictates how I operate when I'm with my wife home alone, that dictates when how I operate wherever I go, wherever I find myself. One singular motif. Where on one end he says, if this is true, then what follows must also be true. So the question you have to ask before we go anywhere in this conversation is, Am I risen with Christ? Because the condition is if you have been risen with Christ, if you are raised with Christ, keep seeking the things which are above. So the question on the table is are you raised? Are you raised? The answer for everyone is in chapter number two. Chapter number two, we'll pick up from verse number ten. Colossians two from verse number ten. And it says, and in him you have been made complete, and he is the head over all rule and authority, and in him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions. That's a long text, but what Paul does here is he says, In him you've been made complete. Well, when was I made complete? You were made complete when he circumcised you. Well, when did he circumcise me? He circumcised you when you were buried and then raised. Well, when was I buried and raised? You were buried in baptism and you were raised up out of the water to walk into newness of life. So when you were buried and raised, that's when you were circumcised, that's when you were made complete, that's when you were made alive, that's when you were raised up. So Paul says, if this is true, that you have been raised, and many of us today would say we have been raised, we have been baptized, we have been circumcised, we have been buried and resurrected with Christ, then he says, It should follow that you should seek the things which are above. Not too much to say here, except when he says, seek the things which are above, I need to be mindful of spiritual things. I need to have the same will that my father has, that my savior has. What I will must be what the Lord wills for me. What I desire must be what the Lord desires for me. I'm seeking him and his righteousness, I'm seeking things which are above. Let me put a quick disclaimer. This is not to say you can't seek earthly things. This, however, says, because I know what my goal is, it helps me walk properly. You're looking at me funny. Let me let me let me do this. I know that over the years I have added a few pongs to my sides. And because I've added a few pongs, I now need to be more mindful of what I wear. Some things make me look bigger than I am, some things just don't fit like they should because I'm not altogether right in all the right places. Y'all come on inside here. I want to make this as practical as possible, and so when I go to shop, I am seeking things that fit me a particular way. Because my mind is set and I'm seeking a particular thing, it automatically helps me with everything else. So for instance, I like black, even though mahalia doesn't like black for me, because black naturally has a slimming effect, so I'm seeking, and in seeking, because my mind is set on clothes that fit me a particular way and look a particular way, I don't look at red, I don't look at bright colors, because the darker the color, the slimmer I look. I'm saying all of this not because I want you to understand my wardrobe, but because I want you to understand the spiritual truth. If your mind is set and stayed the way it should be, it helps you maintain your walk. Because I know I'm looking for these colors and these types of clothes, anything that does not match what I am seeking and set on is automatically eliminated. On the other hand, if I did not have a mind that was set, if I did not know what I was seeking, I would pick up anything and everything when I go to the department store. Things that look good as well as things that don't look well on me because I have no idea what I'm looking for. Some of you haven't understood this yet. Let me give you one more example. I know I have weird feet. Nobody has to see it. Here's what happens: my feet, because they're weird, informs what size shoes I need to wear. If the shoe is wide, I could wear nine and a half, but it must be wide. If the shoe, on the other hand, is not wide, then I wear tens. What that means then is as I go into the department store and I'm looking for shoes, I pass ones, twos, threes, fours, fives, all the way to nines because I already know what I'm seeking. My mind is set. I reach to nine and a half, but even when I'm at nine and a half, I'm looking for nine and one half wide. If there isn't nine and one half wide, I move past it to ten. Nothing else interests me. Spend all of the time to say if you get that, that's what Paul wants you to understand. If you could appreciate that first and foremost, before you think about finance and marriage and family and everything else, career, before you do all of that, if you could put God first and understand what you are seeking, where you are heading, it helps you live better. So he says, if indeed you have been raised with Christ, seek the things which are above. Let me give you another example. Because I know that my mind is set on Christ, because I know I'm seeking God and His righteousness, because I know that I want to be an imitator of God, because I know I want to be a better disciple, because I know how I want to live this life, it would then influence where I go, where I find myself. It influences how I behave, it influences my conduct, it influences every aspect of my life. So I must know firstly what I'm seeking. This year could be your best year if you start it right. But starting it right means you must have some directionality. An old gunsman was on a range, and he would often tell the persons he was training, if you don't have a target, you'll hit it every time. Some of you will catch that on the way home. But if you do not have a target, you will hit it every time. If you aim for nothing, you'll get it every time. So he would always tell them, I need you to picture what you're aiming for. And the same thing is true in how you should live this life in 2026. You should have a picture of what you're aiming for. You should have a picture of what December 2026 should look like. At least a general picture, broad strokes. You should have this in your mind in January. You can't wait until December arrives to then try to accomplish what you set out. It begins now. I need to have this picture in my mind, but I need you to understand that this picture is not just me setting financial goals, career goals, academic goals. You could set all of those goals. And if God is not in the picture, then you cannot be guaranteed any of your plans will be established. Just in case you didn't understand that scripture says, unless the Lord builds the house, the labor in vain that build it. So if you're building, if you're setting up and God is not at the center, he's not at the helm. If you are set and you're seeking something that God did not want you to seek and to set, you're in trouble. That thing will not flourish. So the goal then, as I walk into this year, as I expect and anticipate this year to unfold, I don't know exactly what's going to happen, how it's going to happen, but I do know if my mind is stayed on Jesus, if I'm seeking the right things, things that are above, if my mind is set on heavenly things, then that path, that walk, that life is automatically ordained and blessed by God. So the question that you have to ask after answering, if you're raised, what are you seeking? What is your heart set on? And is the thing your heart is set on currently the thing God's heart is also set on? Because I could have my heart set on something God isn't set on. Is the thing you're currently pursuing the thing you want to pursue, the thing you're seeking, also the thing God wants for you. Is the relationship that you're seeking the one God wants for you? Is the career you're seeking the one God wants for you? As long as you start saying first and foremost, I'm seeking God, everything else falls into place. So don't seek, don't set unless it's God first. Here's how Paul finishes this. He says, verse number three, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. He began by saying, If you have been raised, seek your things which are above, not on the earth. Set your mind on things above, not on the earth. Why? For you have died. My life is not my own anymore. I am mine no more. I've been bought with blood. I am mine no more. And therefore, as a Christian, as a believer, as a disciple of Christ, I should be mindful of the same things my Lord is mindful of. I am no longer living just for me. My life is now hidden in Christ. Another way of saying hidden with Christ reminds me of an old song I sang in children's ministry, and the song said something like this: I'm all wrapped up, I'm all tied up, I'm all tangled up with Jesus. You're wrapped, I'm so in him that it's me wrapped up, me tangled up, me tied up in him. So that when he moves, I moves. What he wants, I want. You could hardly tell the difference. I am in him, he is in me. I'm hidden in him. So I'm now living like him, not just for him. I'm living with him, I'm living like him, and I'm living for him. And if that is how my mind is organized, it helps me order every other aspect of my life. So now my social life is influenced by how my mind is seeking and set. My marriage is influenced by how my mind is seeking God and set after him. My academic life is now ordered and influenced by how my mind is seeking after God and set on him. Every other aspect I could think of is now organized because my central value, my central core, how I walk is determined by my life in Christ. I told you last week Paul's message from Ephesians is be careful how you walk. Walk worthy. As we look at that now again, he's saying a worthy walk is one that has your mind set and stayed on God. There is an old song that we would often sing, and those were the exact words. The words were I woke up this morning with my mind centered on Jesus, and then it went on to say, um, singing and praying because my mind is centered on Jesus. Um, I'm loving my neighbor because my mind is stayed and centered on Jesus, you aren't walking right if your heart and your mind is not set on Jesus. So before you set it on anything else, make sure in the middle of everything, at the heart of everything, on top of everything, and controlling everything is a mind and a heart that is stayed on God. Because that is not just what God expects of us, it is how we should live if you are risen. If indeed you are raised with Christ, then your walk should look like one who has his mind and her mind set and stained on heavenly things. Before I end, I really want to make sure you don't hear me saying that you are so heavenly, that you are so spiritual, that you no longer like earthly things. I'm not saying you can't like earthly things, you could like nice shoes and nice cars. I'm saying that you could like what you like, you could do what you do. Just make sure nothing supersedes your heart for Christ. Nothing supersedes it, and that Christ is supreme. So as much as you're chasing the bag, as much as you're chasing whatever you're chasing, God is first and foremost. God is central, God is priority, and if you could keep God there, you don't have to worry about the other aspects. Because he says, if you seek me first, then all these things that you worry about, I could add on to you. Just put him first. Second message for 2026 is make sure first things are first, and the first thing is God and our heart set on him. So now it's prayer time. We're gonna sing, we're gonna sing, but I also want to pray. If if your mind hasn't been set and centered on God, if you have trouble right now, even having your mind set and centered as you walk into this new year for whatever reason, I want to pray with you and for you. So as we stand and we sing, if you need prayer that you could live the rest of 2026 in faith and with a mind set on Christ, meet me at the front row. I want to pray with you and for you. Let's stand, and as we stand, let's sing.