Our Eyes Are on You

READ: PSALM 119:25-40; EPHESIANS 1:18-23; HEBREWS 12:1-3

Hebrews 12:1-2 holds some of my favorite words in the Bible: “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

I’ve always loved this idea of fixing our eyes on Jesus. But in our everyday lives, we probably don’t think too much about where we direct our focus. Maybe we should start paying more attention. Because where we fix our eyes changes our entire perspective.

When we go through our lives without thinking about where we’re setting our sights, we’ll spend most of our time looking at what’s right in front of us. We might orient ourselves around our work, our commitments, our adventures, our friends, our families...and those aren’t bad things—in fact, they’re good gifts from God. But they can’t ultimately give our lives purpose or fulfillment. All created things will eventually let us down.

What changes when we fix our eyes intentionally on Jesus? Hebrews 12:2-3 goes on to say, “For the joy set before him he [Jesus] endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

When we fix our eyes on Jesus, we remember how He was willing to die on the cross for us. And when we remember the sacrifice He made and all He endured, we’ll be less likely to lose heart in our day-to-day lives. Because Jesus knew that His suffering, even His death, was not the end. He knew the joy that was coming. After three days in a tomb, Jesus rose from the grave, and now everyone who puts their trust in Him gets to live with Him forever! As we wait for Jesus to return and make all things new, we can persevere because of the life God has given us in Jesus—and because of the joy set before us as His children.

So, let’s be intentional about where we look. Let’s watch how God is working. And when it gets hard to keep going, let us look to Jesus and say: “Our eyes are on you.” • Becca Wierwille

• In your everyday life, what are your eyes naturally drawn to?

• What do you think it means to fix our eyes on Jesus? How could this help us persevere?

• Consider taking a moment to talk to Jesus now, thanking Him for enduring the cross for you and telling Him about the things in your life that matter to you, knowing they matter to Him too.

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12:1b-2a (NIV)