Colossians 3:2-3 says, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Read the first phrase of Verse 3 as “Because you died to the world and, as a result, your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” See Galatians 6:14.
Paul says in Romans 12:2 that we are not to be conformed to the patterns of this world but, instead, transformed by the renewing of our minds.
At issue is influence. Paul is pressing us to make certain that we are shaped by the right things, the godly things, the eternal things. Things that might influence us can be blunt, but often they are subtle like the constant wind in the midwest that causes trees to grow on an angle or water that shapes riverbanks and coastlines or sun that causes plants to bend towards its light. Over time the impact of the influence is major.
We have a responsibility to make sure we are embracing and rejecting things based on their ability to influence us in ways that honor the Lord Jesus Christ, draw us closer to Him, and make us more like Him.
FLM