Other Worldly Minded

5 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,

16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1)

Having spent the past few months reading Romans, Galatians and now Ephesians, I have come away with a much greater appreciation of the profound “wisdom and revelation” the Apostle Paul had “in the knowledge of Him.”

I think this prayer of the Apostle Paul is a window into the heart, mind, and soul of a man uniquely used by God. Paul wrote under Inspiration, I know, but … there still is the imprint of this man in his writings.

In this prayer, Paul takes us outside the realm in which we live and escorts us into the “other” unseen world which surrounds us. It’s as if, Paul, lets us have a glimpse into the realm he found himself immersed in every day of his life. He was constantly aware of both the physical and the spiritual worlds that we are involved in.

The thing I find so interesting about this prayer is two-fold:

First is that he is even able to pray such a prayer as this. Or, rather, that he had the sort of insight that caused him to pray beyond the usual cursory statements and requests we ofttimes use. I’m not slighting our prayers as much as focusing our attention to that which we should strive for in our prayers — especially for others.

Second is the content of the prayer itself. To my mind its “other worldly.” There is an amazing level of spirituality involved. I don’t mean, necessarily, his spirituality. Rather I mean the spiritual content of this prayer. Because Paul lived between the visible and the invisible worlds — it afforded him the insight to pray with such depth.

If you read Paul’s writings you can’t help but notice the fact that he frequently has our attention directed to the visible and the invisible; the natural and the supernatural; the horizontal and the vertical; the spiritually dead and the spiritually alive; apart from Christ and attached to Christ. It goes on and on.

Perhaps we are, in fact, too earthly minded to be much Heavenly good.

It’s all too easy to forget that we are spirit as well as flesh. It’s also easy to only “see” the world around us and miss the “unseen” world that is also around us.

What was it that Yeshua said to the thief right next to Him? In essence: Today you’ll be with Me in another realm of life. The thief couldn’t “see” it but Yeshua could.

What was it that kept so many of God’s saints faithful right up to death? Maybe what Stephen “saw” as he was being stoned to death — “Behold, I “see” the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:56)

And interestingly … it was Moses’ awareness of this invisible reality that helped him forsake Egypt not fearing the wrath of the king because of his “seeing Him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:27)

So …thanks to Paul, we are encouraged to be Other Worldly Minded.

I think we’re pretty good at being This Worldly Minded. Maybe you should practice on being more Other Worldly Minded.

Or … as Paul tells us in Colossians 3:1-4:

“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.”

In other words, we’re to focus less on the seen and more on the unseen.

I’m reminded of the old hymn: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. It expresses so wonderfully what it means to be “Other Worldly Minded.

“Turn you eyes upon Jesus

Look full in His wonderful face

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace”