Setting our Minds on the Mission of Heaven - Lift your Heads!
Have you ever been walking somewhere and realized you ended up in the wrong place because you had kept your eyes on your feet while you walked? I can remember one such time for me that still vividly sticks out in my mind. I was young and had just endured a very embarrassing moment with my family at a restaurant and in a desperate attempt to get out of there as fast as I could, I followed a member of my family to what I thought was going to be our car. My eyes were glued to the ground as I followed the feet in front of me. Before I realized what had happened, I heard the gasping of many men, and I looked up to see that I had followed my family member right into the men’s restroom! He turned around, just as shocked as I was , to find me in there with him! Needless to say, my embarrassing moment of the day had just got worse! Most recently, I was walking with my friend in the rainforest where I live and again my eyes were focused on my feet. I happened to look up right as I was walking directly into the largest Spider I had ever seen that was dangling right in front of my chest by a webbed string. I did some sort of Matrix Limbo backbend to avoid the Spider attaching itself to me, all the while screaming! I am telling you that it is a very serious thing to walk with your head and eyes UP! I learned a valuable lesson that day about the danger of keeping your head down as you walk. We know this is true because it is exactly what God tells us to do in Scriptures. In fact, it is God Himself that will consistently be the One to Lift our heads! Look at what Psalm 3:3 declares about our God:
“But You, O Lord, are a shield about me,
My glory, and the One who lifts my head.”
We are called to lift up our eyes because our help comes from the Lord, and like we have been studying in Colossians chapter 3, we are to set our minds on the things above, not on Earthly things. One of the ways we do that is by Looking Up, and Lifting our heads! This is important for us personally, but I want to ask you today what you are doing to help lift the heads of others. You see I was quite upset that no one told me to look up before I ended up in the men’s restroom, or walked into a spider. One of the ways we bring Heavenly direction to our Earthly lives is to help lift the eyes and heads of those around us to the beauty and glory of Heaven!
Not too long ago I was taking my family to the gorgeous sand spit near our house. At the end of this sand spit there is a beautiful lighthouse, and of course surrounding the whole spit is the ocean in all its glory! Now in order to get to this sand spit, you actually have to hike for a bit through a heavily wooded forest. As I am taking my family on this path through the forest, we hike long enough where my sisters begin to wonder if this beautiful ocean is just a myth. They are, by this point, keeping their eyes only on their feet, becoming a little discouraged, and beginning to complain. Much like many of us as we walk through life. Now, my sister had never seen the ocean in person before, and as we rounded a corner, I told her to lift up her head and look at what was ahead. As she lifted her eyes, the trees had cleared and all that was before her was the majesty and splendor of the massive ocean as far as her eyes could see. The power and the beauty of what she was seeing overwhelmed her and instantly brought tears to her eyes. All of a sudden what she had been going through didn’t matter to her, how far she had left to hike didn’t matter to her, all she cared about was what was in front of her. It was so breathtaking that all else faded away!
This is how we are called to live! Setting our minds on the things above, Lifting our heads so that we may see the Glory of what lies ahead. We have a destination to long for and to look forward to. Paul tells us to forget what is behind, and to look to what is ahead...setting our minds on the prize that awaits us. Jesus tells us in Luke 21:28 that when signs of the coming of the Son of Man is near, we are to lift up our heads, because our redemption is drawing near.
I want us to consider today the call from God to Lift our heads! We have been thinking about how we bring Heavenly Direction to our Earthly lives, and as we know that we have been called to Think on the things Above and not the things of the Earth, it is vitally important that we not only Lift our heads but that we live in such a way that helps lift the heads of others! This life is hard, and often feels like we are climbing a never ending mountain, and it is at times like this where we tend to focus only on what’s right in front of us. We become discouraged, distracted, and full of complaining. This is the moment where we need to remind each other to Lift up our heads and to see the Glory that is set before us in eternity, and the destination that we are walking towards. When we start to Think Eternal, the things of this Earth begin to lose their grip on us. Our focus is corrected and we will find that joy and anticipation bubbles up within us as we look to what is ahead. All else fades away as we start sprinting towards the Glory, Majesty, and Splendor of Jesus. One of the best things we can do for each other is to remind ourselves to lift our heads and to lift our eyes and to see the Glory that is set before us. This is how Jesus endured the cross in this life, by fixing His sight on the Joy that was set before Him. We are now told to fix our eyes on Him, because the joy that is set before us is greater and more beautiful than we can ever imagine. What are we doing to help Lift someone’s head today?
Psalm 27:6
“And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.”
Psalm 24:7
“Lift up your heads, O gates,
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
That the King of glory may come in!”