Living for the Address You're Moving To

When Marcus Chen accepted the teaching position at a small university in Edinburgh, something shifted before he ever packed a box. He was still showing up to his office in Atlanta, still grading papers, still stopping at the same coffee shop on Peachtree Street. But his browsing history told the real story — Edinburgh weather forecasts, Scottish hiking trails, flat listings in Stockbridge. His body was in Georgia, but his heart had already crossed the Atlantic.

That is the reorientation Paul describes in Colossians 3. "Set your minds on things above," he writes — not as wishful thinking, but as the natural response to a new reality. You have been raised with Christ. Your citizenship has changed. Your life is now "hidden with Christ in God," as secure and real as a signed contract waiting to take effect.

Marcus did not stop living in Atlanta. He still taught well, still loved his students, still showed up faithfully. But everything he did carried the quiet gravity of where he was headed. The destination shaped the journey.

Paul says a day is coming when Christ, who is your life, appears — and everything hidden will be revealed in glory. Until then, we live like Marcus: fully present where we are, but oriented entirely by where we belong.