Greek: ta ano phroneite, (2PPAM) me ta epi tes ges
Amplified: And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth. (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
Lightfoot: All your thoughts must abide in heaven, not on the earth. For, I say it once again, you have nothing to do with mundane things: you died once for all to the world: you are living another life.
Message:  Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.
NET:  Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth, (NET Bible)
Phillips: Give your heart to the heavenly things, not to the passing things of earth. (Phillips: Touchstone)
TLB: Let heaven fill your thoughts; don’t spend your time worrying about things down here
Wuest: The things above be constantly setting your mind upon, not the things on the earth; (Erdmans) 

SET YOUR MIND: ta ano phroneite (2PPAM): (see note Romans 12:2, see note Romans 8:5, see note Philippians 2:5, see note Philippians 4:8, see note Philippians 2:12-13,see note  Matthew 5:8, 1Ch 22:19; 29:3; Ps 62:10; 91:14; 119:36,37; Pr 23:5; Eccl 7:14; Mt 16:23; see notes Romans 8:4, 8:5, 8:6; see sermon  Eph 4:23, see note Philippians 1:23; 1Jn 2:15-16,17) (contrast Mt16:23) (Jos 1:8 Ps 73:25 Ps 8:3,4 48:9 119:148 143:5) 

Have a relish for things above, study industriously things above (Spurgeon)

Set your affection on things above (Webster),

the things above, keep on setting your mind upon (Literal)

Set your heart on things above, not on earthly things (Montgomery)

And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things) (Amp)

Focus your minds on the things above (Jewish NT)

Set you mind - The KJV has set your affection to which Spurgeon quips...

Set your mind (5426) (phroneo from phren = mind) denotes the whole action of the affections and will as well as the reason.

Phroneo refers to the basic orientation, bent, and thought patterns of the mind, rather than to the mind or intellect itself, and refers more to inner disposition, while keep seeking is rather practical pursuit. The sure safeguard against seeking things below, is not to set the mind upon them.

Setting one's minds on things above involves an act of one's will (active voice) and is something we must do (imperative mood = command) continually (present tense = habitual). Kenneth Wuest picks up on this tense and mood rendering it...

The things above be constantly setting your mind upon, not the things on the earth

Joni Eraeckson Tada writes:

Why all the verbs in the present tense? Because God wants to get your heart beating with a present-tense excitement, a right-around-the-corner anticipation of Heaven. Isn’t that the way strangers on foreign soil are supposed to feel about their homeland?

Vincent suggests that

Seek marks the practical striving; set your mind, the inward impulse and disposition. Both must be directed at things above.

As Lightfoot says:

You must not only seek heaven, you must think heaven

The believer’s whole disposition should orient itself toward heaven, where Christ is, just as a compass needle orients itself toward the north.

Remember that everything you allow into your mind will affect your pursuit of holiness either positively or negatively so set a guard over your heart (Proverbs 4:23) and think on things which are true, honorable, etc (see note Philippians 4:8)

The things above - Is literally "the above".

Spurgeon comments...

How can we continually think heavenly thoughts when we are continually bombarded with earthly propaganda?

It is not easy but it is not impossible or otherwise God would not have commanded us. Do you remember how you felt when you first fell in love with that person of your dreams? Your thoughts continually focused on that one who made your heart flutter. When you had free time your thoughts would drift in their direction. When you lay in bed at night you thought about them. You'd spend hours together and the first thing you did when you got home was call them and talk until the wee hours of the morning.

That "in love" mindset Paul wants the us to cultivate and put into practice. Heavenly thinking is thinking about the One we love more than life itself because He first loved us so selflessly and sacrificially. It is being so in love with our Lord that we think about Him all the time, contemplating His loveliness, His power, what it will be like spending an eternity with the One we love and Who loves us with a love indescribable and infinite. You're thinking about Him now aren't you? Why? Because you are "in the book"... not these notes, for they are not "living and active" but in the Living Word, the Word of Truth and Promise and Hope. Jesus in the beginning was the Word, and in these last days God has spoken to us in His Son. It follows that the best way to "fertilize" our mind so that we are continually thinking of Jesus, is to be in the Word that speaks about His Person from Genesis to Revelation.

We need to practice the "presence of God" rising early to meet Him in sweet communion, listening quietly as we read His love letter to us, ready to lovingly do our Master's will. We need to emulate Mary and repose at His feet, rather than be Martha all busy and bothered about so many things, forgetting that really only one thing is important.

Every time we look at that glitzy sports car commercial, we need to remind ourselves that shiny metal on wheels will never satisfy our innermost need for our Savior. And "things" will never make us more significant or valuable than we already are in Christ, our true Treasure in Whom are hidden all the riches of wisdom and knowledge.

Every time we are tempted to compromise our ethics to make things comfortable we must remind ourselves that the impact of our action (1) grieves our Bridegroom, (2) risks impugning His marvelous name among the non-believing world (who already thinks most Christians are blatant hypocrites) and/or (3) will effect eternity (see the bema).

Every time we are tempted to choose a hedonistic activity over obedience we must remember that we are offending the God Whose Name is Jealous and the One Who loves us with an everlasting love (cf Gen 39:9). 

In short, we must resist the notion that true happiness can be found in anything this world has to offer. It is not in the new car, the faster computer, the new mate, the bigger home, the highest award, the growing bank account.

If our greatest desire is for the things of this earth, that is where our heart will be tethered (see note Matthew 6:21).

If our greatest desire is for the things of Heaven, then our heart will be in heaven and as a man thinks in his heart so he is.

MacArthur has these practical words concerning maintenance of a an "upward mindset"

Paul is not advocating a form of mysticism. Rather, he desires that the Colossians’ preoccupation with heaven govern their earthly responses. To be preoccupied with heaven is to be preoccupied with the One who reigns there and His purposes, plans, provisions, and power. It is also to view the things, people, and events of this world through His eyes and with an eternal perspective.... When Christians begin to live in the heavenlies...they will live out their heavenly values in this world to the glory of God.

Harry Ironside writes that...

It is of all importance that we realize that we do not stand before God on the ground of responsibility. The responsible man failed utterly to keep his obligations. There was nothing for him, therefore, but condemnation, but our Lord Jesus Christ has borne that condemnation; He voluntarily, in infinite grace, took the place of the sinner and bore his judgment upon the cross. Now in resurrection, as we have seen, all who believe are not only given a perfect representation by Him before the throne of God, but we are in Him in virtue of being partakers of His life.

It is when the soul enters into this experimentally, realizing that the death of Christ, in which faith has given him part, has severed the link that bound him to the world and all its purposes and has freed him from all necessity to be subject to sin in the flesh, that he will be free to glorify God as he walks in newness of life. Most theological systems fail to apprehend this great truth of the new man in Christ, hence so few believers have settled peace and realize their union with Him who sits at God's right hand, not only as the Head of the Church, but as the Head of every man who has found life through Him.

Occupation, then, with Christ risen in the energy of the Holy Spirit, is the power for holiness. We are called upon to seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Our real life is there, our truest, best interests are all identified with Him. Heavenly-mindedness is the natural, or I should say, spiritual outcome of this realization.

A story is told of a little girl many years ago in the slums who saw an object lesson using a beautiful white lily. The children gazed upon and touched the lovely lily. One little girl then looked upon herself and immediately fled to her garret home. She used soap she could find, and did her best to make herself more presentable. The lily had awakened her desire for cleanliness. So to look upon our great and holy God awakens within the child of God the desire to be more like Him."

The best way to live in the world
Is to live above the World

In his classic spiritual allegory Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan paints a word picture of a man "who looked no way but downward." This poor creature was on his knees in the dirt and filth, working constantly with a rake, trying to unearth some choice morsel that would enrich his life. Yet all the while a bright crown of immeasurable worth was within reach just above him. Bunyan summarizes the tragedy:

"There stood One over his head with a celestial crown in His hand, and proffered him that crown for his muck rake; but the man never looked up as he continued gathering to himself the straw, the small sticks, and the dust of the floor!"

Bunyan's words remind us that the rewards of heaven will have no appeal unless we set our mind "on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col. 3:2). Although we who have trusted Christ as Savior have to live here in this world, we should not cling to material things. We must become so occupied with pleasing Him and working for the crowns of eternal reward that we have no desire to dig in the dirt of this fleeting world. In the light of Colossians 3:2, isn't it time that you and I adjust our priorities?

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This is the proper order...upward focus, saying ''yes, Lord'' then ''No" to the world, the flesh and the devil. Have this mindset, this inner impulse and disposition. Things are not to master you. Motivated and empowered by His Spirit (see series on walking in the Spirit beginning at Galatians 5:16; Galatians 5:17; Galatians 5:18) we are to master ''things'' and not let our possessions ''possess'' us!

Feet on earth, mind in heaven but not ''so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly good.

This emphasis (too much on heaven) is not most believer's problem. Many are so earthly minded that they are of no good to His heavenly cause on earth! The practical things of everyday life get their direction from Christ in heaven - Look at earth from heaven's point of view. Pray (Matthew 6:10 [note]) 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.'

Paul in Romans 8 (see notes Romans 8:5-7) makes it clear that the way one thinks is intimately related to the way one lives, whether in Christ, in the Spirit and by faith, or alternatively in the flesh, in sin and in spiritual death. A man’s thinking and striving cannot be seen in isolation from the overall direction of his life. Our life will be reflected in the aims we set for ourselves. So let us set our mind on the the things above...it will affect the way we order our steps in our present earthly life.

Deep-seated, lasting lifestyle change is rooted in and flows from change in mental focus >> How I live flows from how I think.

In (Acts 7:55, 56) Stephen's mental focus was manifest in his Spirit-filled godliness as He was about to be stoned to death.  He choose not to look at his executioners but to look to Jesus and let all who were present know that he saw Christ standing at the right hand of God. Stephen did not chose to focus on his difficult situation but fixed his heart on the Lord, giving us an incredible example of heavenly thinking to imitate in our daily walk. (see notes Hebrews 6:11; 12)

A FEW WAYS TO
LOOK UP**

Pause often to look at the clouds (Ps 19:1-6 - Spurgeon's notes) and think of the day when Christ will come in the clouds (Rev 1:7 - see note)

Hear the thunder (Ps 29:2-3 - note v2 ; note v3) and rejoice that the God who made the powerful storms (Ps 107:25, 29 - note v25; note v29) is the God who holds your hand and loves you with an everlasting love (Ps 100:5 - note).

See the people around you and remember that these are people that matter to God (1Ti 2:3, 4, Isa 45:22, Isa 55:1, Ezek 18:23).

See a hearse or cemetery and remember that death is not the end, but a beginning, a victory, a home going (Job 19:25, 26, 27).

Use the quiet moments in a waiting room to recount God's promises (see note 2 Peter 1:3-4) and to fellowship with Him in prayer (Ps 24:6 - note, 27:4 - note, 27:8 - note).

In the times of conflict turn to Him before we respond in anger (Ps 37:8 - note, Pr 14:29, Pr 16:32, notes  Ephesians 4:26; 27; 4:31, Js 1:19, 20)

Pause to look at the day lilies (Ps 12:27) or a sunset (Ps 19:4, 5-6 - Spurgeon's notes), or a star-filled night and marvel at the creative splendor of God (Ps 8:3-4 - Spurgeon's notes, Isa 40:26)  

** (Modified with addition of cross references from a sermon by Bruce Goettsche) (Hold pointer over blue links for popups)

NOT ON THE THINGS THAT ARE ON THE EARTH: me ta epi tes ges:  (Ps 49:11-17; Mt  6:19; Lu 12:15; 16:8,9,11,19-25; Php 3:19; 1Jn 2:15 Pilgrims & Strangers)

The things “on the earth” are the things mentioned in the preceding chapter, which include legalistic and ascetic principles and practices.

Spurgeon comments

That which is proper enough for a dead man is quite unsuitable for a risen one. Objects of desire which might suit us when we were sinners are not legitimate nor worthy objects for us when we are made saints. As we are quickened we must exercise life, and as we have ascended we must love higher things than those of earth.

Paul does not mean that we should never think the things upon the earth, but that these should not be our aim, our goal, our master. The Christian has to keep his feet upon the earth, but his head in the heavens. He must be heavenly-minded here on earth and so help to make earth like heaven. Note also that Paul was not enjoining an other-world asceticism. He had just condemned that approach to spirituality (Col 2:20-23). He was however saying that life in this world will be better if it is lived by a power beyond this world, the power of the resurrected, ascended, glorified Christ.

Eadie notes that Paul

"does not urge any transcendental contempt of things below, but simply asks that the heart be not set upon them in the same way, and to the same extent, in which it is set upon things above. The pilgrim is not to despise the comforts which he may meet with by the way, but he is not to tarry among them, or leave them with regret. “Things on earth” are only subordinate and instrumental—“things above” are supreme and final. Attachment to things on the earth is unworthy of one who has risen with Christ, for they are beneath him, and the love of them is not at all in harmony with his position and prospects. What can wealth achieve for him who has treasure laid up in heaven? Or honour for him who is already enthroned in the heavenly places? Or pleasure for him who revels in “newness of life”? Or power for him who is endowed with a moral omnipotence? Or fame for him who enjoys the approval of God? Nay, too often, when the “things on earth” are possessed, they concentrate the heart upon them, and the “look and thoughts are downward bent.” Bishop Wilson on this place observes—“for things on earth too naturally draw us down, attract us, fix us. Esau's red pottage prevails over the birthright. The guests in the parable turn away to their land, or oxen, or families. The Gadarene mind wishes Christ to depart from its coasts.” The things on earth are seen, therefore they are temporal; the things in heaven are unseen, and therefore they are eternal. If the mind be fully occupied with things above, things on earth will be barred out. (Eadie, John: Commentary on Paul's Epistle to the Colossians - Download 377 page Pdf - 1884)

Paul described the character of those in Philippi who had set their mind (same verb as in Col 3:2) on earthly things

"For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who (present tense continually, habitually) set their minds on earthly things." (see note Philippians 3:18-19)

What are "the things above" upon
Which we are to keep setting our focus?
 

C. H. Spurgeon offers a lengthy but picturesque reply which is worth pondering:

"First, there is God himself. Make him the subject of your thoughts, your desires, your emotions, your love (Study His Attributes). “Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he will give thee the desires of thine heart.”  (Ps 37:4-5) “My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him.”  (Ps 62:5) Call him “God my exceeding joy.” (Ps 43:4) Let nothing come between you and your heavenly Father. What is all the world if you have not God, and when you once have God, what matters it though all the world be gone? God is all things, and when thou canst say “God is mine,” thou art richer than Croesus. O to say, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.”  (Ps 73:25-26) O to love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and with all our strength: that is what the law required, it is what the gospel enables us to render....I see Jesus, who is God, but yet is truly man. Need I press upon you, beloved, to set your love upon the Well beloved? Has he not won your heart, and doth he not hold it now as under a mighty spell? I know you love him. Fix your mind on him then. Often meditate upon his divine person, his perfect work, his mediatorial glory, his second coming, his glorious reign, his love for you, your own security in him, your union with him. Oh let these sweet thoughts possess your breasts, fill your mouths, and influence your lives. Let the morning break with thoughts of Christ, and let your last thought at night be sweetened with his presence. Set your affection upon him who has set his affection upon you...I see the new Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all. I see the church of Christ triumphant in heaven, with which the church militant is one....And what else is there above that our hearts should love but heaven itself? It is the place of holiness; let us so love it that we begin to be holy here. It is the place of rest; let us so delight in it that by faith we enter into that rest. O my brethren, you have vast estates which you have never seen; and methinks if I had an estate on earth which was soon to be mine I should wish to take a peep over the hedge now and then. If I could not take possession, I should like to see what I had in reversion. I would make an excuse to pass that way and say to any who were with me, “That estate is going to be mine before long.” In your present poverty console yourselves with the many mansions. In your sickness delight much in the land where the inhabitants shall no more say, “I am sick.” In the midst of depression of spirit comfort your heart with the prospect of unmixed felicity....What! Are you fettered to earth? Can you not project yourself into the future? The stream of death is narrow; cannot your imagination and your faith leap over the brook to stand on the hither shore awhile and cry, “All is mine, and mine for ever. Where Jesus is there shall I be; where Jesus sits there shall I rest...Oh to get away at this present time from these dull cares which like a fog envelope us! Even we that are Christ’s servants, and live in his court, at times feel weary, and droop as if his service were hard....you who are in business, and mix with the world by the necessity of your callings, must find it difficult to keep quite clear of the down-dragging influences of this poor world; it will hamper you if it can. You are like a bird, which is always in danger when it alights on the earth. There are lime, twigs, and traps, and nets, and guns, and a poor bird is never safe except upon the wing and up aloft. Yet birds must come down to feed, and they do well to gather their meal in haste, and take to their wings again. When we come down among men we must speedily be up again. When you have to mix with the world, and see its sin and evil, yet take heed that you do not light on the ground without your Father: and then, as soon as ever you have picked up your barley, rise again, away, away, for this is not your rest. You are like Noah’s dove flying over the waste of waters, there is no rest for the sole of your feet but on the ark with Jesus. On this resurrection-day fence out the world, let us chase away the wild boar of the wood, and let the vines bloom, and the tender grapes give forth their good smell, and let the Beloved come and walk in the garden of our souls, while we delight ourselves in him and in his heavenly gifts. Let us not carry our burden of things below on this holy day, but let us keep it as a Sabbath unto the Lord. On the Sabbath we are no more to work with our minds than with our hands. Cares and anxieties of an earthly kind defile the day of sacred rest. The essence of Sabbath-breaking lies in worry, and murmuring, and unbelief, with which too many are filled. Put these away, beloved, for we are risen with Christ, and it is not meet that we should wander among the tombs. Nay, rather let us sing unto the Lord a new song, and praise him with our whole soul."

When life gets you down, remember to look up.
The master key to success is knowing the Master
The only way to see life clearly is to focus on Christ.

Only the mind that is set on things above can say "YES" to Christ-like holiness and "NO" to sin. The choice is ours. The power is His.

Just as pilots focus on their instruments even though they cannot see their destination and all their senses are telling them that they are going the wrong direction, so saints are to focus on "the instrument panel" of what God says is true about us even though it may not feel true at the time. Remember not home yet. As we focus on truth "our inner man is being renewed day by day" by the Holy Spirit (2Cor 4:16)

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Temptation Too Great - In his book Hurrying Big for Little Reasons, Ronald Meredith spoke of a quiet spring night when the silence was broken by the sound of wild geese flying. “I ran to the house,” Meredith comments, “and breathlessly announced the excitement I felt. What is to compare with wild geese across the moon? It might have ended there, except for the sight of our tame mallards on the pond. They heard the wild call they had once known. The honking out of the night sent little arrows of prompting deep into their wild yesterdays. Their wings fluttered a feeble response. The urge to fly—to take their place in the sky for which God had made them—was sounding in those feathered breasts, but they never raised from the water. The matter had been settled long ago. The corn of the barnyard was too tempting!” (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

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Focus - Missionary pilot Bernie May writes, "One of the most difficult lessons to teach new pilots about landing on short, hazardous airstrips is to keep their eyes on the good part of the strip rather than on the hazard. The natural tendency is to concentrate on the obstacle, the danger, the thing he is trying to avoid. But experience teaches us that a pilot who keeps his eye on the hazard will sooner or later hit it dead center."

This makes me think of a spiritual principle in the Bible. Instead of concentrating on the sins we want to avoid, we are told to focus on the positive actions Christ desires for us. Paul told the Christians at Colosse: "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:2). We are to discard old ways of thinking and acting (Colossians 3:5-9) and "put on" new ways of living (Colossians 3:10-17).

Bernie May sums it up by saying that experienced pilots focus their attention solidly on the track they want the plane to follow, keeping the hazards in their peripheral vision only.

When Christ and His interests are the focus of our lives, the lure of the old life remains in the corner of our eye, while we aim to land squarely in the center of God's will.—David C. McCasland  (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

THINKING IT OVER
What "hazards" sometimes divert
your attention from Jesus?
What positive, God-honoring actions
can you concentrate on doing instead?

Those who fix their eyes on heaven
will not be distracted by the things of earth.

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The Choice Is Ours - One summer afternoon I climbed a hill near my home. When I reached the top, I stretched out on the grass to relax.

Turning my head to one side, my eyes focused on some blades of grass within inches of my face. This short-range focus not only strained my eyes, but it blurred my view of anything beyond the end of my nose. So I began to adjust my focus, and then the distant city came into view instead. I found I could shift my sights from near to far at will. The choice was mine.

In today's Bible reading, the apostle Paul emphasized that followers of Christ need to keep eternity in view. He wrote, "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:2). We can choose where to put our focus.

We can succumb to selfish, earthbound thoughts, bl