My husband just began a new chapter of life as a youth pastor. The ministry he inherited is full of strong-hearted youth who dubbed their group with the name S.Y.M.O.T.A.
It stands for “Set Your Mind On Things Above”
(pronounced sim-oh-tuh in case you, like me, were wondering)
Based on Colossians 3:1-2 which says,
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
SYMOTA (pronounced sim-oh-tuh in case you were wondering) is the word I have desperately been searching for.
- Symota: a heavenly perspective
- Symota: a liberating prescription
- Symota: an encouragement to live in light of truth
How easy it is to become fixated on our momentary struggles. After all, they are at “eye level”- always right in front of us. By default, we tend to “set” our minds there, on the easy-to-reach shelf of the Here and Now.
Other things are shelved there too… things like bills, back pain, a qualifying exam, and spilled milk (breast feeding moms know what I’m talking about).
The knickknacks of loneliness, nostalgia, and the opinions of other share this shelf space with cans of our current circumstances and full calendars. They stare us right in the face at all hours of the day (and night!), demanding attention and consuming our thoughts.
And consumed we are, mesmerized in a trance of anxiety and time management. But there is a higher shelf. A place where freedom and peace dwell. The resting place of our hope, next to a full jar of truth and a box of true satisfaction. This shelf is full of Symota!
God has called us to set our minds on thing ABOVE. This shelf isn’t within arms length. We must be bold to contend for the hard-to-reach perspective of how God sees things.
It’s gonna take standing on tip-toes to get there. We might even have to climb a bit. In fact, we might even need to ask for a boost from a friend. Or ask, “who can I get down on all-fours for?” because someone may need to stand on my back in order to reach a heavenly perspective.
Let’s all grab a buddy or a spiritual step stool today and grab that Symota.
(Don’t forget to share how it changed your day, in the comments below!)
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