Live Above the Worldly Line
Colossians 3:1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (ESV)
It is obvious from the Scripture we just read together that God desires us to focus our thoughts and therefore our minds on the eternal and not the worldly. “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”.
In order to bring this concept into sharper focus, we will briefly spend some time on various “natural lines” or separations that God has placed in creation.
In the book of Genesis we see multiple separations that God perfectly orchestrated.
Genesis 1: 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. (NIV)
Genesis 1: 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. (NIV)
Genesis 1: 14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years (NIV)
In addition to the major separations God shares with us in His word, we often observe or know of other separations or natural lines that God has put in place. Let me share a few with you…
Tree Line - “The tree line or timberline is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. Beyond the tree line, they are unable to grow because of inappropriate environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, insufficient air pressure, or lack of moisture).
At the tree line, tree growth is often very stunted, with the last trees forming low, densely matted bushes. If it is caused by wind, it is known as krummholz formation, from the German for ’twisted wood’.
The tree line, like many other natural lines (lake boundaries, for example), appears well-defined from a distance, but upon sufficiently close inspection, it is a gradual transition. Trees grow shorter towards the inhospitable climate until they simply stop growing.” (Wikipedia)
God set the conditions and tree lines are formed. Because Tree Lines are visible they are very easy to see and locate.
Frost Line – “The frost line—also known as frost depth or freezing depth—is most commonly the depth that the groundwater in soil is expected to freeze. The frost depth depends on the climatic conditions of an area, the heat transfer properties of the soil and adjacent materials, and on nearby heat sources.” (Wikipedia)
Here in Florida, we sometimes experience frost, but our neighbors to the north have a much better understanding of the significance of a frost line (frozen pipes, burial problems, etc.).
Animal and reptiles are aware of frost lines, etc., God programed wildlife to hibernate from temperature extremes such as frost lines for their protection and preservation.
This is what the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says about snakes and their winter preparation – “During the cold winter months, you won’t find snakes above ground. Because snakes are cold-blooded animals, their body temperature warms and cools with outside air. To keep from freezing, snakes look for a place to hibernate below the frost line. They look for a rock crevice, an ant mound, or a tunnel made by a burrowing animal. The winter den is called a hi•ber•nac•u•lum . Generations of snakes return to the same hibernaculum year after year”.
Once again we learn, God set the conditions and frost lines are formed. Since frost depth depends on climatic conditions, heat transfer properties of the soil, adjacent materials, and nearby heat sources the depth of the freeze lines will vary, but they are real and verifyable with much effort.
Another line has been called:
Snake Line
Above the Snake Line
Russell H. Conwell
From The American Pulpit, edited by Charles Clayton Morrison, Chicago: The Christian Century Press, 1925.
There is, “an old tradition concerning the Hampshire highlands of the
Berkshire hills of Massachusetts. In one of his letters the great poet, William Cullen Bryant, who so loved the Berkshire Hills, mentioned the fact that when the hills were first occupied by settlers, they found that down in the valleys were very dangerous serpents. The rattlesnake was there, the poisonous adder was there, the copperhead was there. In order to escape these serpents, they built their residences upon the hills. Ancient tradition related that there was a “snake line” above which no poisonous snake ever crept. If a person built above an elevation of about twelve hundred feet above the sea level, no poisonous serpents ever bit his children, or destroyed his property, or endangered his life. But if he built in the valley, he was subject to these deathly dangers. In the old times when the country was settled, every person who approached was advised to build his house “above the snake line.”
Above the snake line the early settlers dwelt—those pioneer New Englanders whose emigrants formed the foundation of the middle and western states.
The Snake Line symbolically is a dividing line; above the line you are physically safe and protected from dangerous and deadly serpents.
The Scripture we read suggest a line similar to the snake line; I’ll call it the Worldly Line (representative of danger). It marks the division between a lower and upper Spiritual altitude. Below the line your soul can be subject to the molestations of Satan; above the line Satan can not come. Below, there is spiritual depletion, fatigue, spiritual poverty, and collapse; above we can have spiritual replenishment, strength, spiritual abundance, endurance and security.
Colossians 3:1 If (Qualifier) then you have been raised with Christ (Raised from what?), seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (ESV)
Security of the Upper Altitude –
We weren’t raised with Christ and left in the graveyard. We may be physically on earth but spiritually we should be soaring.
Isaiah 40:30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Renewed Strength – to endure the strains, temptations and irritations of life - Renewed Strength to deal with inclinations of the flesh; envy, hate, fear, wrath, impurity
Soar –
We can learn a lot from the Eagle and apply it spiritually.
The Eagle is well aware of the perils of the lowlands (worldly line). They need to forage to survive in the lowlands, but they build the nests in high places away from the reach of invading reptiles. He does not needlessly expose himself to danger, and does not spend his leisure time defending his life against hazards that don’t exist in the upper altitudes.
EXPLAIN Did you ever notice how long an Eagle stays in harms way? How long does it stay near the ground? Where do they keep their chicks or Eaglets? They never stay low for long. They swoop down and pick up fish and quickly climb to a higher elevation.
Eagles are predators, mainly preying on fish; however game birds, small mammals and reptiles are also eaten sporadically. Eagles are capable of catching live fish by diving or swooping along bodies of water and snatching fish from along the surface.
Illustration--There was a farmer that found an Eagle egg where the mother had died or left the egg. So he placed it under one of his hens and it hatched in the hen house. At first, the eagle scratched like a chicken and ate like a chicken. But the bigger he got, he became aware that he was not a chicken. He would stare out of the cage and look into the sky. Sometimes, he would flap his wings but the cage held him down. One day, another eagle flew over and screamed. Something inside that little eagle began to swell. The farmer saw the look in his eye and opened the cage door and off he flew. He wasn’t made to scratch in the dirt but God had made him to fly in the heavens!!! (Sermon Central)
Christian brothers and sisters like that Eagle, you weren’t made to mire in muck, you were made to spiritually soar.
Example - When the bible speaks of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, we shouldn’t be asking which one we received, that’s not soaring. God wants you to have them all and have them simultaneously.
“SOAR” We weren’t raised with Christ and left in the graveyard, we weren’t raised with Christ to mire in muck, we weren’t raised with Christ to live low spiritually, reflect love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
Run and not grow weary
Walk and not be faint
Isaiah’s original readers, those in captivity (and weary) who remained faithful, who’s hope was in the Lord, they were reminded the Lord would help them to endure. They would be uplifted emotionally and spiritually. (Paraphrase of The Bible Knowledge Commentary – Victor Books)
In Conclusion
God has put separation and lines or divisions in what He created. We can and should learn from what has been created. When it comes to the “Worldly Line”, “The Snake Line”, God wants to keep you from being in danger. God doesn’t want our mind to be earthbound, He wants us to Soar Spiritually. Use sample Prayer using Colossians 3:1-2 in a minute or two.
"If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this".
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
Colossians 3:1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (ESV)
Prayer - Use Colossians3:1-2 as a basis for the prayer (God will help you set your mind on eternal and not things on earth)
