HEBREWS 12:1–2 – “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
THEME OF THE DAY: KEEP OUR EYES ON HIM. Today’s scripture is one of those so called “danger scriptures.” Not that it is harmful to us. It certainly isn’t. In fact, it contains the necessary spiritual discipline of looking to Jesus if we are going to live the Christian life above trying circumstances and with joy unspeakable, full of glory (1 Peter 1:8). It is a “danger scripture” because it is quite familiar. I am sure most of us reading today’s nugget know it and likely memorized it.
We are to guard against allowing our familiarity with God’s Word that points us to Jesus to “lose its punch” or the awe factor of Who He is. A.W. Tozer once said, “Christ can never be known without a sense of awe and fear accompanying the knowledge. No one who knows Him intimately can ever be flippant in His Presence.”
In the discipline of looking at Jesus through pages of scripture, we are safeguarded against misinterpreting what Christianity is all about. We are not religious people. Jesus had a lot to say about them and not good. Nor are we simply good moral people. Granted Christianity does promote the highest standard of morality, but it is not defined as such. Christianity is Christ. Christianity is the radical transformation of life that enables us to walk with God through Jesus Christ. It provides the only source of lasting contentment and purpose in life, and it all centers on looking to Jesus.
There is another danger associated with this scripture. Not only must we fight against its familiarity, but also distractions. The distractions seeking to get our eyes off Jesus are as plentiful and annoying as flies at a picnic! And if they are successful, gone is our peace, joy, and rest promised by our Lord to those who keep their eyes on Him. So, what are we to do against those forces seeking to distract us from Jesus? Here are two applications.
First, remember we are created and saved to look to Jesus. Keep this chief purpose in life before us, and we will recognize those forces seeking to draw us off a steady gaze upon our Lord. Next, never go a day without looking to Jesus in Word and prayer. Build a steady habit and diet of being in the Bible for the purpose of beholding the beauty and glory of the Lord Jesus (Isaiah 33:17). Such a discipline will keep us from both distractions and familiarity!
PRAYER: “Father, help me keep my eyes of faith staring at Your Son, and not the world, people or myself.”
QUOTE: “We know peace, joy, and rest with our eyes on the Lord Jesus. We forfeit all three if we don’t.”