Listen to Paul’s instruction to the church at Colosse. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4).
By Rufus M. Parker
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The writer of the Book of Hebrews stated, “We are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak” (Hebrews 6:9). May I go a little deeper and tell you that Jesus Christ is persuaded of better things of you, too? The Bible says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation” (II Corinthians 5: 17- 1 8). Paul further stated, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1-3). Some things accompany salvation, and one of those is having a desire for and falling in love with heaven. You have to see yourself someday walking through those pearly gates and dancing on the streets of gold.
The writer stated, “That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12). To be slothful is to be lazy, and laziness does not come with your salvation. We must put our hands to the plow and not look back. We must rise and work while it is still day as the night will come when no man can work. (We must be strong and do exploits.)
Solomon stated, “I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man” (Proverbs 24:30-34). Picture if you will a broken-down vineyard. Consider the ugliness it presents. Consider what laziness can do to you, the writer said. He further stated, “He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster” (Proverbs 18:9). Paul stated, “If any [does] not work, neither should he eat” (II Thessalonians 3:10). “By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through,” Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 10:18.
Laziness causes the building to decay, and idleness of the hand causes the house to drop through. In other words, when Christians do not take time to care for the temple of God, it becomes desecrated and an ugly sight. But when well maintained, it is beautiful and represents the owner,
Jesus Christ. We are the temple of the Holy Ghost. Our lives must reflect Jesus Christ. Our dress and appearance, as well as our attitudes, must show the world how beautiful Jesus truly is. We are ambassadors for Christ. We are God’s building; we are God’s representatives in the earth.
Once we receive salvation, our attitude toward the things of God should change, because there are certain things that do not accompany salvation. If you say you are born again of the water and the Spirit, then slothfulness is not part of your life.
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