How to Think Your Way to Heaven

Here’s a Bible verse that gives us something to think about.

“Set your minds on things above,
not on earthly things.”
Colossians 3:2

It’s a simple command. Well, simple to understand. We are instructed to think about “things above” – heavenly things, like God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, for starters. And all that He is and has done and promises to do.

We are to spend time focused on spiritual things, directing our minds and hearts toward heaven.

The Christian life isn’t that hard to understand. But when it comes to doing it, ah, that’s the challenge!

How do you put Colossians 3:2 into practice? How do you think about heavenly things rather than earthly things?

Perhaps you’re like me. Do you have days when your mind seems to have a mind of its own?

My brain is like a pinball machine – bouncing here, there, and everywhere. I’m constantly “reeling it in.” In a matter of seconds, my thoughts can be all over the map.

This area of mental self-control is something that I, uh . . . well, think about often!

And our thoughts matter. Especially to God. We can sin with our minds just as often – if not more often – than we sin with our hands and feet and the rest of our bodies (especially our mouths).

I want to love God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Don’t you?

And here’s one way to do it: meditate on the Word.

How do we do that? By spending time reading and studying the Word. That was the subject of last week’s post, 3 Great Ways to Read & Study the Bible in 2023.

Today, I want to offer some practical advice on how to continually think about spiritual things throughout the day. I usually start the day with a focused time of Bible reading, study, and prayer. My mind is then saturated with God’s truth and that is a great place to be, mentally and spiritually.

But as the day progresses, I find myself drifting away from God. Sooner or later, I come to realize that it’s been a long time (anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours) since I have thought about God at all. I don’t like that. And I gotta think that I’m grieving the Spirit by ignoring Him.

Over the years, I have found that meditating on Scripture throughout the day by memorizing a specific verse or passage is one effective way to keep my mind focused on God. Yes, Bible memorization is not just for children. It’s for grownups, too. It’s one way to turn Colossians 3:2 into a godly habit.

For 2023, here’s what I’m doing to keep my mind on God throughout the day. I’ve set a goal to memorize one Bible passage each week. And here’s where I found 52 great passages . . .

John MacArthur wrote a book entitled, The Heart of the Bible: Explore the Power of Key Bible Passages.

It contains 52 Bible passages on 10 major Bible themes:

The Bible in Your Heart
Knowing and Trusting Our Great God
Understanding God’s Reign
What Happened on the Cross
Accepting God’s Salvation
More Than We Deserve
Living Worthy of Our Calling
What It Means to Follow Jesus
Bringing Light to the World
Our Eternal Destiny

For example, the verses for Chapter 1 are:
Joshua 1:8
Psalm 1:1-2
Psalm 19:7-9
1 Peter 2:1-2
2 Timothy 3:16-17
Hebrews 4:12

Lord willing, these are the passages I’ll be memorizing over the next 6 weeks.

If you’d like to see the verses for the rest of the year, go to Amazon and click on “Read Sample” (on the far left side of the screen, right below the graphic of the cover), then scroll until you come to the Table of Contents.
https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Bible-Explore-Power-Passages/dp/0310142164/

If you’d like to join me in this endeavor, let me know by leaving a comment below and I’ll be happy to pray for you in this regard, that we spend time meditating on the Word through Scripture memorization, and fill our minds and hearts with God’s precious truth all day long.

For more thoughts on the benefits of memorizing Scripture, check out these blog posts:

7 Truths about Biblical Meditation
https://godwrotethebook.com/7-truths-about-biblical-meditation/

5 Ways to Get a Grip on Your Bible
https://godwrotethebook.com/5-ways-to-get-a-grip-on-your-bible/

Bible Memorization Is Not Just for Children
https://godwrotethebook.com/bible-memorization-not-just-for-children/