Risen With Christ

[KenH]

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." – Colossians 3:1

How many there are even of those who desire to fear God who are kept down by the world, and to whom it has not lost its attractive power; who are held fast, at least for a time, by worldly business, or entangled by worldly people or worldly engagements. Their partners in business or their partners in life; their carnal relatives or their worldly children; their numerous connections or their social habits; their strong passions or their deep-rooted prejudices, all bind and fetter them down to earth.

There they grovel and lie amid, what Milton terms, "The smoke and stir of this dim spot which men call earth;" and so bound are they with the cords of their sins that they scarcely seek deliverance from them, or ever desire to rise beyond the mists and fogs of this dim spot into a purer air, so as to breathe a heavenly atmosphere, and rise up with Jesus from the grave of their corruptions.

But if, as members of his mystical body, they are already risen with Christ, as it was not possible for the Head to be held by death when God loosed the pains thereof (Acts 2:24), so neither shall they ever be buried in the grave of carnality and worldliness. They must rise spiritually if they rose mystically. If interested in the reality of Christ's resurrection, they must know the power of Christ's resurrection.

- J.C. Philpot, Daily Portions, February 3​

 

[Ascetic X]

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." – Colossians 3:1

How many there are even of those who desire to fear God who are kept down by the world, and to whom it has not lost its attractive power; who are held fast, at least for a time, by worldly business, or entangled by worldly people or worldly engagements. Their partners in business or their partners in life; their carnal relatives or their worldly children; their numerous connections or their social habits; their strong passions or their deep-rooted prejudices, all bind and fetter them down to earth.

- J.C. Philpot, Daily Portions, February 3​

I love this post. I have recently been startled into realizing how much worldliness had invaded my heart.

I confronted the way my Christianity was mostly head knowledge of scripture, without much practical application. I questioned myself about how often I actually turned the other cheek when insulted. I started reading the scriptures without a smug attitude. I felt convicted by the warnings and commands.

Not only that, but also I realized how I was tangled up in worldly music and dubious comedies full of sin and foul language (Curb Your Enthusiasm, etc.).

I was enjoying much of the world, and indulging in carnal habits, while at the same time thinking I was deeply spiritual based on my love of talking about God and reading my Bibles and devout books.

Sometimes it takes tragedies and catastrophic events to force us into looking at ourselves more seriously.