April 22

If ye then he risen with Christ, seek those things which are above. - Colossians 3:1.

AS if the apostle should say, You will, by seeking those things which are above, evince that you are risen with Christ. And if you are Christians indeed, you will act becoming your condition and rank. Surely it is very desirable to be fully assured that we are thus risen with Christ. While many are seeking those things which are earthly, and which perish with their using, let us be concerned to say, “Show me a token for good.” “Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.” There are many who are building their hopes on a sandy foundation, trusting to partial reformations. Alas! how possible it is to be near the kingdom of God, and not in it!

There is no evidence of our being raised to this spiritual condition which can be depended upon separate from heavenly-mindedness, or from setting our affections on things above. For as we have borne the “image of the earthly,” we must also “bear the image of the heavenly,” or we cannot with safety indulge in a “hope of the glory of God.” Then, if we are seeking “those things which are above,” our practice must accord with our professions.

Hence there are such frequent exhortations in the Scriptures to “walk worthy of God, who has called us unto his kingdom and glory.” “Walk worthy of the high vocation wherewith ye are called.” Walking, here, is not meritorious, but implies suitableness and correspondence. Alexander, the conqueror of the world, said to a soldier who bore his name, “Either drop my name, or act becoming it.” So says the Apostle Paul: -“Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

How many are there who entirely disregard the things which are above! They are like Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright; or, like the Gadarenes, rather than lose their swine, would expel Christ from their coasts. Like Reuben and Gad, they are satisfied with their portion this side Jordan. But what a portion will it prove eventually! for “What shall it profit a man, if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” But, blessed be God, there some who have weighed both worlds, and who prefer the “things above” to the things on the earth; who are able to say,-

“Farewell, world; thy gold is dross:

Now I see the bloody cross;

Jesus died to set me free

From the law, and sin, and thee.”

Such declare plainly that they “seek a better country,” and show that “truly their fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”