One beautiful evening an older couple were eating dinner at a fancy restaurant. The wife noticed another couple about their age sitting in a booth nearby. She saw the husband sitting close to his wife, with his arm around her. He was whispering things in her ear, and she was smiling and blushing. He gently rubbed her shoulder and touched her hair. The woman watching this display of affection turned to her husband and said, “Look at the couple over there. Look how close that man is to his wife, how he’s talking to her. Look at how sweet he is. Why don’t you ever do that?” Her husband looked up from his Caesar salad and glanced over at the next booth. Then he turned to his wife and said, “Honey, I don’t even know that woman.”

Sometimes we just don’t get it do we? We miss the obvious. I believe there are opportunities around us everyday to do something great, but we tend to overlook them or pass them by without ever even knowing it. The difference between people who get the most out of life and the ones who get the least out of life is because of perspective. Perspective allows us to either see more than others see or see less than others see depending on our vantage point.

The question is…what is your vantage point? What perspective do you have in life? I have found that the difference between happy positive people and unhappy negative people is not a matter of circumstances it is a matter of choice. Negative people tend to think that positive people have just had it easier or their heads are in the clouds. I would say this to them…”Yes they do have it easier because their heads are in the clouds because they think about things above not things below.” You see the Bible is clear that what we think about will shape what we experience. Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinks in his heart so is he.” This is why the book of Philippians tells us whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.

Like the man in this story above missed the obvious because his thoughts were somewhere else, so we can miss opportunities around us because our mind is not on the mission God has for us. Life is not just about paying the bills, working to retire, enjoying the weekend, and watching the next engaging mini-series. It is about fulfilling our purpose and mission on this earth to be the hands and feet of Christ to the world. We cannot live out our mission if our minds are only on earthly things. We can only fulfill our mission if we train our brain to be mindful of the purposes of God in us. This means we must wake up every morning and remind ourselves that we are on a mission and to be alert of the opportunities around us to make a difference! I end with this POWERFUL reminder in scripture…

Colossians 3:2

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”