I’m Too Distracted with Life to Meditate on Christ
Chapters
0:00:7 What Do We Do When Our Hearts Are Too Distracted To Focus on Christ
3:41 The Essence of the Problem Is in the Heart
7:1 Four Realities about Christ
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Well, we start the new week
00:00:05.640 | looking at the distracted heart.
00:00:08.200 | What do we do when our hearts are too distracted
00:00:11.100 | to focus on Christ?
00:00:12.720 | Two listeners ask about it.
00:00:14.760 | Pastor John, first is Tess.
00:00:16.320 | Tess writes, "Hello, Pastor John.
00:00:17.600 | "Thank you for such an amazing and unique platform
00:00:20.000 | "to minister to people's hearts through this podcast."
00:00:23.120 | When it comes to setting my mind on the things of Christ,
00:00:27.120 | like it says in Colossians 3, 2,
00:00:29.860 | I know how to preach truth to myself
00:00:31.640 | and remind myself of God's promises in scripture.
00:00:34.920 | However, when I think about my ex-boyfriend
00:00:37.280 | dating one of my dear friends
00:00:39.020 | that have both walked away from the Lord recently,
00:00:42.440 | my mind is so fixed on that one thing,
00:00:45.120 | I can't focus on the Word.
00:00:48.200 | How can I train my distracted mind away from this world
00:00:51.520 | and its worries and stresses,
00:00:53.580 | and instead set my full gaze on Christ himself?
00:00:57.600 | I'd love some insight on this.
00:01:00.100 | And then Michelle from Canada writes in,
00:01:01.800 | "Pastor John, you have no idea how helpful this podcast
00:01:04.280 | "has been for me.
00:01:05.120 | "Thank you for responding to every question
00:01:06.620 | "with thoughtfulness and love.
00:01:08.620 | "Sometimes I have trouble falling asleep,
00:01:10.540 | "and what's helped me the most is daydreaming
00:01:12.980 | "about the things that will probably never happen to me.
00:01:15.880 | "I imagine my dream home with lavish furniture,
00:01:19.160 | "traveling to remote places,
00:01:20.700 | "being the CEO of a company, and so on.
00:01:23.360 | "Although it helps me fall asleep,
00:01:24.660 | "I'm left feeling guilty to thinking about the Lord
00:01:26.840 | "and what he's doing in my real life
00:01:28.880 | "doesn't bring me the same peace.
00:01:31.240 | "I'm now finding that these imaginary scenarios
00:01:34.140 | "consume me during my day-to-day routine outside of sleep,
00:01:37.820 | "during my commute to work,
00:01:38.960 | "getting ready in the morning, cooking, and more.
00:01:41.860 | "Given that the Bible tells us to set our minds
00:01:43.920 | "on things that are above and not on things
00:01:45.680 | "that are on earth," in Colossians 3:2,
00:01:48.240 | "is it a sin to daydream in these ways?"
00:01:51.440 | - When I first heard these two questions,
00:01:53.960 | they both raise a question about Colossians 3,2,
00:01:58.520 | namely, set your minds on things that are above,
00:02:02.320 | not on things that are on the earth,
00:02:04.640 | but also because they point to almost opposite ways
00:02:09.640 | of struggling with this verse.
00:02:12.520 | Tess is struggling with the controlling thought
00:02:17.520 | about something she has lost, a boyfriend and more,
00:02:23.440 | and Michelle is struggling not with something she has lost,
00:02:28.360 | but something she dreams of having,
00:02:30.800 | a dream home, traveling, being a CEO.
00:02:34.180 | The very fact that setting our minds
00:02:39.040 | on things that are above can be hindered
00:02:42.600 | by both regrets and by dreams
00:02:47.600 | is very instructive for us.
00:02:51.560 | It's instructive because it reminds us
00:02:55.600 | that the heart of our problem
00:02:58.920 | is not what we had and lost
00:03:03.120 | or what we never had but desire to have.
00:03:07.080 | The problem is deeper.
00:03:09.120 | It's similar to the instruction we get
00:03:10.880 | when we realize that being wealthy and being poor
00:03:15.840 | might both be characterized by being greedy and covetous.
00:03:20.720 | The person who has a lot may trust and love his possessions,
00:03:25.720 | and the person who has little may crave earthly things
00:03:31.840 | with as much passion as a rich person loves them.
00:03:35.080 | So the essence of the problem is not in the wealth
00:03:40.840 | or the poverty.
00:03:42.260 | The essence of the problem is in the heart
00:03:45.320 | and what it desires and where it rests.
00:03:48.500 | That's what I would say we learn from Tess and Michelle.
00:03:53.500 | The essence of the problem is not that something
00:03:57.440 | has been lost or something has not yet been gained.
00:04:01.480 | The essence of the problem is deeper.
00:04:04.800 | In both cases, setting the mind on things that are above
00:04:09.800 | is hindered by a recurring pattern of thought.
00:04:14.880 | In one case, a pattern of thought
00:04:17.440 | about what she had lost,
00:04:19.920 | and in the other case, a pattern of thought
00:04:21.800 | about what she doesn't yet have and dreams of having.
00:04:24.680 | And I think if we read Colossians 3, 1 to 4,
00:04:29.280 | the Lord will show us what may be the common,
00:04:33.740 | deeper root of the problem here.
00:04:36.880 | So let's read it.
00:04:37.880 | If you have been raised with Christ,
00:04:41.920 | seek the things that are above.
00:04:44.320 | Where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
00:04:47.720 | Set your mind on things that are above,
00:04:50.000 | not on things that are on the earth.
00:04:52.340 | For you have died and your life is hidden
00:04:56.640 | with Christ in God.
00:04:59.240 | When Christ who is your life appears,
00:05:01.900 | then you will appear with him in glory.
00:05:05.860 | Now, these words are simply breathtaking.
00:05:13.000 | They are breathtaking in what they show us
00:05:16.800 | about the reality of who Tess and Michelle are,
00:05:21.520 | who they are and who Jesus Christ is.
00:05:25.480 | So five things that Tess and Michelle
00:05:28.840 | need to know about themselves.
00:05:31.520 | One, they have died.
00:05:34.840 | Verse three, because of their union with Christ by faith,
00:05:38.720 | their old, unbelieving, rebellious, perishing self
00:05:42.840 | died when Christ died.
00:05:45.240 | Two, they have been raised with Christ from the dead.
00:05:50.240 | Verse one, they are a new creation in Christ.
00:05:55.920 | This is not something to be achieved,
00:05:59.480 | but something that has happened to them.
00:06:02.040 | God has done this.
00:06:04.800 | Three, the essence of their new life in Christ
00:06:08.400 | is hidden with Christ in God.
00:06:11.320 | Verse three, they are as real and as secure
00:06:15.960 | as Christ is in heaven.
00:06:18.440 | Four, their life is not only hidden with Christ in God,
00:06:23.440 | but Christ himself is their life.
00:06:28.040 | Verse four, their life is as destructible as Christ,
00:06:33.040 | because he is their life.
00:06:36.720 | Five, at the coming of Christ in glory,
00:06:40.920 | Tess and Michelle will appear with him
00:06:44.480 | as the everlasting, glorious beings that they really are,
00:06:49.480 | even though very few people can see that in them now.
00:06:54.680 | Those are five staggering realities
00:06:58.160 | that Tess and Michelle need to know about themselves.
00:07:00.840 | And here are the four realities about Christ
00:07:04.280 | in those verses.
00:07:06.040 | One, Christ is alive, alive forevermore.
00:07:09.840 | Verse one.
00:07:10.680 | Two, Christ is right now seated at the right hand of God.
00:07:15.680 | Verse one, he is a co-ruler of all things in the universe.
00:07:21.200 | Three, Christ is now the life of his people.
00:07:26.140 | Verse three, all our new everlasting existence
00:07:30.960 | flows from him and consists in our union with him.
00:07:36.440 | Four, Christ is going to appear on the clouds
00:07:40.120 | with great glory to establish his kingdom.
00:07:43.280 | That's verse four.
00:07:44.520 | And with him, all his people will shine like the sun
00:07:49.240 | with his kingly glory.
00:07:51.480 | Now, embedded in those nine,
00:07:54.980 | set your mind on things that are above,
00:07:59.900 | not on things that are on the earth.
00:08:02.000 | That's embedded in those glories.
00:08:04.520 | And what I'm suggesting is that the deeper issue
00:08:08.920 | that Tess and Michelle are dealing with
00:08:11.960 | and all of us deal with
00:08:14.920 | is that they may be trying to obey this exhortation
00:08:19.420 | to set their minds on things that are above
00:08:21.520 | without getting a clear, deep, satisfying grasp
00:08:27.520 | of these nine glorious realities
00:08:32.880 | about themselves and about Christ.
00:08:35.120 | In other words, it's hard to set your mind on something
00:08:40.120 | over against your losses and your dreams
00:08:44.640 | if that something that you're trying to set your mind on
00:08:48.920 | is not clear and great and beautiful and desirable
00:08:53.920 | in your mind and your heart.
00:08:56.240 | Now, I realize someone is gonna say to me,
00:09:02.800 | but how does that help them since they're saying
00:09:07.280 | that thoughts about loss and thoughts about dreams
00:09:11.960 | are precisely what is keeping them
00:09:14.800 | from setting their minds on the greatness and the beauty
00:09:17.920 | and the desirableness of these realities.
00:09:20.320 | So you haven't said anything helpful, Piper.
00:09:22.960 | (Piper and David laughing)
00:09:25.880 | Now, to which my response is this,
00:09:29.040 | it's not quite like that.
00:09:31.320 | Let me explain.
00:09:32.720 | When I lie awake at night,
00:09:34.760 | knowing that I need sleep and it's not coming
00:09:39.880 | and I'm tempted to set my mind on something earthly
00:09:44.200 | that I want or that I regret,
00:09:47.160 | what helps me turn my mind toward things that are above
00:09:53.480 | is that I have devoted significant time and energy
00:09:58.960 | on a few passages of scripture to penetrate through
00:10:03.960 | to the clarity of the greatness and the beauty
00:10:08.720 | and the desirableness of the reality that is there.
00:10:13.280 | In other words, I don't expect all of that work
00:10:17.200 | to happen on my pillow.
00:10:19.000 | The times when I need to direct my thoughts
00:10:24.200 | away from anxieties and earthly cravings
00:10:29.200 | is not the time for doing the serious business
00:10:34.280 | of understanding texts and penetrating through them
00:10:38.760 | to great and beautiful reality
00:10:43.080 | that can conquer my wandering thoughts.
00:10:47.080 | So my suggestion for Tess and Michelle and all of us
00:10:53.320 | is that we devote certain times to create a reservoir
00:10:58.320 | of beauty and glory and greatness and desirableness
00:11:05.440 | with a few passages of scripture
00:11:09.640 | so that when in the course of the day or night,
00:11:14.360 | we try to set our minds on things that are above,
00:11:18.440 | we don't have to fill that reservoir at that moment.
00:11:23.440 | It's already there.
00:11:25.480 | We can ask God, "Father, as I recite this verse
00:11:30.480 | or as I recite this passage now,
00:11:34.760 | cause me to see, to really see and savor
00:11:39.760 | and stand in awe of the greatness and the beauty
00:11:44.240 | and the desirableness of things that are above."
00:11:48.360 | - Yeah, thank you, Pastor John.
00:11:49.440 | And thank you for the questions today, Tess and Michelle.
00:11:52.400 | And thank you for joining us today.
00:11:53.920 | You can ask a question of your own,
00:11:55.280 | search our growing archive or subscribe to the podcast,
00:11:57.560 | all at desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.
00:12:01.520 | Well, speaking of desires for the world,
00:12:05.760 | we are far too easily pleased.
00:12:09.800 | That's the main problem we have here in America.
00:12:11.880 | We are not too hedonistic, too pleasure-centered.
00:12:15.040 | No, we're not pleasure-centered enough.
00:12:17.880 | We settle for the world's paltry pleasures
00:12:20.680 | at the expense of giving our lives to pursue our deepest
00:12:24.000 | and most lasting joy,
00:12:25.160 | seeking what will make us happy forever.
00:12:27.920 | And in settling for the trivial pleasures of this world,
00:12:30.160 | we undermine both of our chief callings in life.
00:12:33.600 | How so?
00:12:34.720 | That's what we're gonna talk about next time.
00:12:36.680 | A lot on the table.
00:12:37.680 | Then I'm your host, Tony Ranke.
00:12:38.680 | We'll see you back here on Wednesday.
00:12:40.300 | Thanks for listening.
00:12:41.360 | (upbeat music)
00:12:43.940 | (upbeat music)
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