“Oh come on.  Please.  Please change your mind. Please.  Surely, you’re not going to continue thinking that way.  Come on.  Really?  Think about what you are saying.  Think about what this decision will do to……..
Think how it will affect your day.
What about how this decision will change your tomorrow.    Pleeeeeeeeeeeease.   Are you sure that your heart can beat on and you stay believing this way?

Won’t you change your mind?”
That conversation could come out of the mouth of so many and for so many various reasons. Maybe your good friend wants you to go somewhere, and you’re just swamped and know you should not go, but……
Possibly this conversation could come from the mouth of your child who wants something that you know is not good for him, for her, and to deny this request makes you feel awful, but……..

Even consider how this conversation could occur between our two ears, within your own mind.  Our emotions may lean us toward one decision, but our head thoughts may lean us the other way.    What to believe?    What to do?

So difficult to know, to decide. 

Medical professionals tell us that approximately eighteen inches exist between our brain and our heart.  That’s right, a mere eighteen inches. Our mind and our heart are SO CLOSELY KNIT TOGETHER. We read and we often hear people say, “Listen to your heart,” but should we really listen to our emotions? God created both our heartbeat and our brain.  God gave us both logical thought and emotion, & God knows we need both.  Yet, which one should win the decision when considering our eternity?  Which should win the victory when our eternal destination rests upon our One Decision? 
“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory”    (Colossians 3:  1-4).
Did you catch the second & third words the apostle Paul wrote? “IF YOU…”
Decisions happen within us & affect us in our present place, as well as in our future place. When we make decisions, we usually choose to follow either our head thoughts or our heart feelings, but let’s propose today that we could allow both to work in tandem, like two wheels on a bicycle.   Our front wheel is our Brain with the handlebars attached to the frame, allowing us to direct our body either left, right, or continue straight. On a bicycle, wherever our front wheel goes, our back wheel is sure to follow.

Picture a beautiful sunny day in Europe and see a fifty-something girl riding her rented bicycle behind a teenage boy, trying her best to keep up with him.       See the beautiful, almost flat landscape with gentle rolling hills; see the sunny sky; see the forest coming up in the horizon; see the fifty-something falling behind, struggling to keep up with the teenage boy.  She is trying, but clearly, she is not in physical shape as he.

Where is your brain taking you today? Where are your logical thoughts taking you when you ponder the existence of God, when you consider the existence of the One who created heaven and earth, when you contemplate the Almighty Who controls our breathing, our heartbeats, our birth–day, our longevity of years on earth, & our death date?

Where our front wheel goes, our back wheel is sure to follow. When riding our bike, what “wheel” we follow; Who “wheel” we follow because where our head thoughts go, your emotions are sure to follow……..BECAUSE where our front wheel goes, our back wheel cannot help but to follow BECAUSE our handlebars are attached to our front wheel. “THEREFORE, IF YOU HAVE BEEN RAISED UP WITH CHRIST” (verse 1). “Raised up,” as in IF YOU have accepted the truth, the fact that God exists & IF YOU have believed that Jesus died and was resurrected on the third day, & IF YOU have confessed your sins to Christ Jesus, knowing that He is faithful to forgive you of your sins…THEN YOU HAVE BEEN RAISED UP WITH CHRIST” (verse 1).

Both bicycle wheels are so needed whenever we ride our bikes (no unicycles for us because our balance can often be off balance).    So again, picture a beautiful sunny day in Europe and picture again in your mind a girl riding her rented bicycle, trying her best to keep up with the crowd.       See again, the beautiful almost flat landscape with gentle rolling hills; see the sunny sky; see the forest coming up in the horizon; and then see the girl falling behind, struggling to keep up, trying, but clearly, her emotions tell her to stop peddling, but her mind speaks truth. What “wheel” she follow? If she stops peddling she will be lost from the group, lost to the way home, so she peddles, she steers her bike behind him, following Him, following where HE leads, trusting that He will not leave her, trusting that He will lead her home once this journey is complete.
She does not know the territory, and she trusts that He knows the way.       How much farther……she has no clue.
They enter the forest, the path becomes more narrow.  The coolness feels so nice against her skin, but she wonders, as her legs protest, “Oh my.  How much farther can it be?”
“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ,…Set your mind on the things above,…For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.    When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:  1-4).

Our emotions will attempt to control our decisions, our life—–like riding a wheelie on our back wheel—-balancing precariously as we attempt to ride through life making decisions on how we feel, how our emotions lead us to go here and there.
BUT, “IF YOU HAVE BEEN RAISED UP WITH CHRIST”……IF YOU have accepted with your mind that God does exist, that even though you don’t understand everything, still you know in your mind that God does exist,  & IF YOU know from the historical facts written…..logically sound, historical facts……that Jesus Christ did raise from the dead, and IF YOU accept that fact, then the next logical thought is to see yourself in comparison to Almighty God.  When we do, we see in our mind God’s perfection and holiness, and we see our sinfulness and unholiness.  We cannot help but see the difference between a Holy God & a sinful man.  It’s a logical thought.   The devil will immediately have us feel another way, telling us that there are not enough facts possible to believe such craziness, BUT THAT’S OUR BACK WHEEL (our emotions, our heart) TRYING TO LEAD OUR BODY AND NOT OUR FRONT WHEEL STEERING THE WAY (our brain, our logical mind).

If you are still reading this blog post, then know this true fact:    We can only “Keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”     & We can only “Set our mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth….:” “IF YOU [if we] have been raised up with Christ,” (verse 1-2).

We can only be raised up IF WE ADMIT THERE IS A GOD; IF WE BELIEVE HE HAS DIED & HAS BEEN RESURRECTED TO NEW LIFE;   & IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS AND ASK HIM TO FORGIVE US.
Jesus Christ will stand up, and when he does, He will return.  See this fact in our minds.  The Messiah will return for us, for His church. When Jesus does, will He be returning for you, or will He leave you behind?
Our mind knows the truth.  Set our mind there, on the logical things above.  Our emotions will follow where our logical thoughts lead. God exists……..It’s a logical fact. Truly, it’s just logical to BELIEVE.