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 JESUS. I realize what I am about to write is bold, but no one will disagree. Any Christian who has walked with the Lord for some time knows by painful experience, it is true. Here it is . . . “The most important discipline in all the Christian life is keeping our hearts and minds on Jesus. Without this discipline, we will fall into pits of disappointment, discouragement, and even depression.”
In today’s scripture, the author of the New Testament letter to the Hebrews points us to this discipline. He does so in the context of living the Christian life which is identified as “a race” and the way to finish it well is by “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” We have the example in the Apostle Paul of keeping this discipline in his testimony to the Corinthian church – And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).
Here is an example emphasizing the importance of this discipline of looking to Jesus. The Puritan Pastor Isaac Ambrose (1604-1664) endured a serious illness in the early 1650s. He wrote “a devotional on what the Lord had done for his soul” and titled it Looking unto Jesus. One might question it being a devotional when compared with the many devotionals flooding the Christian publishing world today as Ambrose’s “devotional” is 694 pages long and is his exposition of Hebrews 12:2 – Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith!
In developing this discipline, we are entering into a heart and mind war of distractions. To look at Jesus means we must fight off the other places seeking our gaze. And this war is intense but must be won. If not, welcome miserable and joyless walk with the Lord. With that, here are the three “foes” that want to get our eyes off Jesus with the devastating results if we give into any of them.
First, if we look to people, disappointment will come. We simply cannot place expectations on people that are unrealistic and not even what the Lord would require. Remember, people fail. Even Christians. Yes, even us toward other people. Don’t allow our fixation to be on fallen people. Disappointment will always follow.
Next is the world. If we look to the world, discouragement will come. There is nothing in the world that encourages the Christian. It is a dark place under the temporary control of the devil. Don’t be deceived to think the world can bring contentment and satisfaction into our lives. It cannot. It only brings discouragement.
Finally, ourselves. Don’t go there at all. We will only find depression if we focus on ourselves. There is nothing good in us or from us. That is why we need Jesus. Always. And that is why we must look unto Him, always.
May the Lord help us keep our eyes on the only safe and joyful place, the Person of our Lord Jesus.
PRAYER: “Father, help me keep my eyes on Your Son, not other people, the world, or myself.”
QUOTE: “The most important discipline in all the Christian life is keeping our hearts and minds focused on Jesus.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim