Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

—Hebrews 12:1-2

Years ago, I heard a comedian deliver this bit: “You know everyone’s an expert. They all know better than you do what you should be doing. For example, one guy at work told me to keep my shoulder to the wheel. Another guy told me to keep my nose to the grindstone. Yet another guy told me to keep my ear to the ground. So, I’m gonna keep my shoulder to the wheel, my nose to the grindstone, my ear to the ground—and I’m gonna try to work in that position?”

Not all advice carries the same weight. And, that’s a good thing. But, in the realm of advice for daily living, the writer of the letter to the Hebrew Christians scattered across the then-known world shared a very important word of advice, found in Hebrews 12:1-2:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

If we want to succeed in the Christian life, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus. We need to read our Bibles and learn everything about the way He thought and the way He acted. We need to learn what He felt was important. We need to follow His example. As we run our race in this life, we need to keep our eyes on our Lord, Savior, and King.

That’s not only good advice for today. It’s good advice for every day. Maybe, just maybe, we should follow it.

 

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