Articles
“The Spirit's Frequency”
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
(Colossians 3:2)
The phrase “set your mind/heart” is used throughout Scripture to describe the orientation of one’s thoughts, will and affections. It is a metaphor for fixing one’s life-attention on a thing (1 Sam. 9:20). A heart may be “set” to do God’s will or one’s own. It may be “set” on things above or below (examples - 1 Chron. 22:19; 2 Chron. 11:16; 12:14; 19:3; Ezra 7:10; Col. 3:2; Mt. 16:23; Rom. 8:5; Phil. 3:19, etc.).
Whenever I hear this phrase “set your mind”, I always think of tuning a radio. Growing up a Cleveland Indians fan in the 1990’s meant hearing the voice of Tom Hamilton. It was imperative to find the exact frequency on the radio so that all the distortion would fade away until his voice was crystal clear. When I got my own radio, I would flip back and forth between my preset FM music stations and AM 1100 for the Indians game with the push of a button. It was that easy. One click from Pearl Jam to MLB playoffs, from Eddie Veddar to Tom Hamilton. Would that tuning our hearts and setting our minds could be so easy!
Echoes of God's voice can be heard throughout creation (Psa. 19) but the voice itself is only clear on one distinct frequency, the Scriptures. We are tasked with tuning out all the distortion of the world to find the heavenly frequency of our Shepherd's voice. And once finding that divine voice to "set" our hearts and minds diligently upon it.
“The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers… My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (Jn. 10:3-5, 27) Sheep follow the comforting sound of their shepherd's voice. In the same way, we are to recognize and follow the sound of our Shepherd's voice.
Later, the apostle John wrote of the distinction between the different voices and audiences of teachers, “They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us...” (1 Jn. 4:5-6) Spiritual frequencies are constantly competing for our attention. One can tell where one is "from" based upon who one chooses to listen to. Children "of" or "from" God "know" Him and, like a child, can pick their Father's voice out from a crowd. The truth has a certain ring to it, a familiar flavor, a distinctive tone.
However, it is entirely possible to tune into the "heavenly" station for only a few hours in a week while allowing the world to win our attention the rest of the time. We may flip back to God’s station on Sunday but tune out heaven’s song throughout the week in favor of the seductive rhythms of the world.
The attention of our heart and focus of our mind are ours to give to whomever or whatever we will. We must be careful to tune into the right frequency. The Lord warns us to “take care then how you hear… My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” (Lk. 8:11-21, esp. vv.18, 21) Those who devote themselves to do God’s will are those who are spiritually “tuned-in” to God’s voice. They listen actively, deliberately, and carefully.
Also, true listeners of the heavenly station hear evangelistically. That is, what they hear they also proclaim to others (Mt. 10:27; 1 Pet. 2:9; Phil. 2:15-16; 1 Jn. 1:1-3). So, today, do not harden your hearts or stop your ears but "tune in" to and "set your mind" on the voice of Jesus! (Psa. 95:7-11; cf. Heb. 3:7-11, 15; 4:7; Deut. 4:36; Mt. 17:5)
