Go! And Guard Your Heart’s Devotion - Colossians 3:1–4 Series

Go! And Guard Your Heart’s Devotion - Colossians 3:1–4

Introduction:

“Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ.” – Oswald Chambers

“Our attention is one of the most precious things we have. What we give it to shapes our souls.” – John Piper

Church, we live in an age of distraction. The enemy doesn’t always need to destroy your faith—he only needs to divide your focus. Oswald Chambers’ warning echoes across time: anything—yes, anything—that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ must be treated as a threat to your soul. And John Piper brings it even closer: what you pay attention to, what captivates your mind and your eyes—that is what shapes the very core of who you are.

So today, in this Go! And… message, I ask you—what is capturing your attention? What is competing with your devotion to Jesus? Let us hear the Word of God and allow the Holy Spirit to realign our loyalty and fix our gaze upon Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.

Colossians 3:1–4 (NLT): “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 honour 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. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.”

1. Set Your Sights on Heaven: Where Is Your Gaze?

Paul is writing to believers in Colossae, urging them to live as people who have already been resurrected with Christ. The phrase “set your sights” in Greek is zeteite—it means to seek or to strive after. It’s an active, intentional pursuit, not a passive glance.

Paul says, “Think about the things of heaven.” The Greek word here is phroneite—to have your mindset, your inner attitude shaped by heavenly realities.

What do you spend your time thinking about? What do you strive after? If your attention is constantly drawn to things that are temporary—money, fame, politics, pleasures—then you are at risk of shaping your soul according to the patterns of this world.

John Mark Comer: “What we give our attention to is the person we become.”

Church, if you spend more time scrolling through social media than meditating on Scripture, you’re being discipled by the world instead of by Christ.

A pilot flying a plane must constantly keep his eyes on the horizon and his instruments. If he starts focusing on irrelevant distractions in the cockpit, he could easily drift off course or crash. Likewise, if you don’t intentionally fix your gaze on Christ, you will drift—slowly, silently—until one day you wonder how you ended up so far from God.

2. Identify and Remove Competing Loyalties

Matthew 6:24 (NLT): “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”

Jesus speaks plainly—loyalty to Him is exclusive. The Greek word douleuein here for "serve" means to be a slave to, totally owned by.

You can’t serve God while simultaneously being enslaved to something else. Whether it’s wealth, status, relationships, or entertainment—anything that takes priority over Christ becomes an idol.

Tim Keller: “If you love anything in this world more than God, you will crush that object under the weight of your expectations and despair when it lets you down.”

Keller’s words pierce the heart. Only Jesus can bear the weight of our worship. Everything else will fail us.

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what you’re truly devoted to. Is it comfort? Is it approval? Is it your career? God’s not interested in sharing your heart with your idols—He wants all of you.

3. Refocus Your Mind and Heart Daily

Romans 12:2 (NLT): “Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Paul says transformation comes by renewing the mind. The Greek word for transform here is metamorphoo—a complete metamorphosis, like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.

R.T. Kendall: “You are not what you think you are. But what you think—you are.”

Kendall reminds us that our thoughts are shaping us. Our mental habits determine our spiritual direction. To be loyal to Christ means choosing daily to let the Word of God rewire our thinking and renew our desires.

A gardener knows that weeds don’t need encouragement—they grow naturally. But fruit requires intentional planting, watering, pruning, and patience. Likewise, if we are not daily intentional in cultivating the mind of Christ, worldly thinking will grow wild in us.