If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things upon the earth, for ye are dead and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:1-3 KJV). 

During one season in my early years as a believer I participated in a small group who worshiped God to the accompaniment of a guitar and a banjo. The song that will always resonate with me from that time was a rip-roaring rendition of Colossians 3:1-3. At the top of our lungs and with all the gusto we could muster we belted out, “Ye are dead, Ye are dead; Ye are dead and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

I wonder if, in the exuberance of our singing, I ever stopped to think about those words.

Had I, I would have acknowledged that something radical had changed about my life, although it would take awhile for me to call that something dying. 

Yet Scripture calls it dying a lot.

Which is, of course, because our old self was crucified with Christ (See Romans 6:6-7 and Galatians 2:20). 

That old self’s anthem was “I Pledge Allegiance to Myself.” Being devoted to oneself leads to doing whatever seems right in one’s own eyes. This is why those earthly actions—sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language (v.5,8)—show up. 

When we died, our allegiance and devotion to ourselves caved. To now be hidden with Christ in God means we have a new song: “I Pledge Allegiance to My Lord.” To be devoted to the Lord leads to doing whatever is right in His eyes. This is why those things which are above—compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness and love (vs.12-14)—show up.

To get us to devotion to God, intense things had to happen. The old self that did its own thing had to cease functioning by being crucified with Christ. Then, hidden with Christ in God, we could experience God as He is—the One who loves us completely, the One we can trust unreservedly. For It is the amazing reality of our Lord and His ways that awakens our devotion to Him. 

Dying our way to devotion. It has to be experienced, doesn’t it? Yet having even a little impression of it means we can joyfully belt out that “Ye are dead” song. (Which is on YouTube, but, sadly, not with a rip-roaring guitar and banjo.) Then, can you supply a song about devotion to complete the story?