What are you looking at?

Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of your faith. (Heb 12:2)

I recall the times in my youth when tensions ran high at school, or out and about when some ‘ruffian’ or group of people would say “What are YOU looking at?”. This is meant to be a threat or an expression of power– almost saying, ‘what gives you the right to look at me, or are you judging me?’ More often than not, the effect is to cause the person looking to look away and walk away. Unfortunately, this only goes to empower the bully’s behaviour.

However, there are times in our life when that is a very valid question. What are you looking at? You will find your mind will often be filled with the thing you look at. If we are not careful, what we fixate upon will become what we worship. We are called to fixate on Jesus and His Kingdom. Jesus said that if we focus on His Kingdom, everything else that we may need will be given to us.

So, what are you looking at? What fills your mind, heart and imagination? What things consume your planning and your spending? Are they things that are seeking the Kingdom of God?

There are many things that compete for our attention:

• the global pandemic has a real risk of making us can make us a slave to fear - people’s opinions and reactions to it can become very confronting. There are differing strongly held opinions on how one is to respond to such a crisis. What are you looking at? you might be in the middle of a rough patch in your relationships. Again the pandemic can blow things up far larger than normal. What are you looking at?

• you might have issues of employment or finances and have trouble paying the bills, money may be tight. What are you looking at?

• you might be suffering from stress, a physical illness or the depths of depression. The question is perhaps even more relevant than ever – What are you looking at?

We are called to live by faith and not by sight (2Cor5:7). The challenge is to learn to look at something that we cannot see with our physical eyes. We are called to look with eyes of faith to learn to sharpen our spiritual sight. Paul writes: So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen in temporal, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Cor 4)

Do your troubles consume you? What are you looking at?

This is why the writer to the Hebrews says, “Fix your eyes upon Jesus the author and perfector of our faith” Not only has Jesus gone before us, He is also seated in the heavenly realms with all authority. The Psalmist puts it like this: Look to the LORD and His strength: seek His face always (Ps105:4). So often, we need to refocus our attention on the right things.

Right now: what is filling your thoughts and your vision? What could be stopping you from fully trusting God at the moment? On what are your eyes fixed?

Perhaps it is time to let the LORD define your circumstances. Maybe it’s time to go to the spiritual Specsavers: Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of your faith. (Heb 12:2)

Blessings

Fraser