What are You Looking At?

Today's blog title is often posed as a negative question. We'll hear this statement uttered when a person feels as if they're being singled out or potentially mocked because someone is looking at them in a funny or strange way. I, however would like to take a different approach to this question and pose it as a point of life introspection. In your daily life, in your work, in your ministry, in all you do, the question is: What are you looking at? Do you look at circumstances? Examples from the world? Goals that society tells you are worthwhile? A negative image of yourself? A limitation of what you can accomplish? My proposition for you today is today is to look away from all of these things and to look to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2 - NKJV).

So much of our lives can be driven by what we see, which often leaves us falsely secure, misled and eventually discouraged just to name a few. Rather than taking the course of being visually driven by the world around us, we must embrace the challenge to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. The reality of that statement is that all of what we look to Jesus for will be found in the word of God. Those words, both written and spoken, will set us apart from those who are driven by the imagery they take in with their natural eyes. Father God spoke to us in Deuteronomy 8:3 saying that "... man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. That statement was also echoed by Jesus in Matthew 4 when He was tempted by Satan. Even Jesus, in a moment of temptation, due to what he saw with His eyes, declared that the source of life does not come from what we see and partake of, but the words of life that we receive. The true manifestation of looking to Jesus is not about what we see with our natural eyes, but the word we hear and obey.

Regardless of what we see with our eyes, we must be willing to take a deeper look at life through the lens of scripture and the discernment by the Holy Spirit within us. This will always ensure that we are embracing what Father God has to say so we can be certain that we are walking in His ways and not a worldly counterfeit. As the old hymn says:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace (Helen H. Lemmel)

Remember, Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith so who better to look to for guidance and direction in all things.