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 (NIV)
I find myself troubled with an eye problem. It seems I have what they call a wrinkled
retina. At times my vision is fairly
clear and then it suddenly becomes difficult to focus out of that eye. Not only is it frustrating, it is tiring when
your job entails a great deal of study and reading.
You may have met someone who has or had amblyopia which is
more commonly known as "lazy eye."
The eyes have trouble working together to focus. One eye might focus
correctly but the other eye has the tendency to wander from the focal point. With some corrective glasses and eye
exercises a patient can be helped and able to focus both eyes correctly. Without help, an individual finds seeing
things clearly almost an impossibility.
Spiritually speaking we all have a bit of amblyopia ... the
inability to stay focused. We are
constantly allowing our eyes to become distracted from the One we are to be
focusing upon. These verses in Hebrews
show us three things: 1.) The Focused Heart Of Jesus 2.) The Distracted Heart
We Tend To Have and 3.) The Heart God Desires Us To Have.
A Focused Heart
Looking to the life of Jesus we find many great aspects ...
but one that assured us of our salvation was His ability to stay focused. He remained true to the task at hand even
though others tried to distract Him with secondary things.. Think about this
... Jesus never carried a daytimer, or an iPhone, or even notes and "To
Do" lists ... yet He remained incredibly on course with what He was doing.
And it wasn't that there weren't other distractions to take
Him off course ... He had plenty of those, from those who loved Him and those
who opposed Him. According to Hebrews 4:15, He fought inner distractions for He
was also tempted every day just as we are.
But he remained focused in heart motivation and action.
Toward the end of His earthly ministry Luke says, As the time
approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. Luke 9:51 (NIV) The King James Version says, He stedfastly
set his face to go to Jerusalem.
Jesus had a great resolve about Him to do the will of the Father. We see it now and even later to come in the
garden to which He prayed for God's will ... not His own to be done. He had a resolve to walk in a certain
direction; to complete a task.
Nothing ... no person ... no prevailing wind ... no force
would be able to deter Him from his determined course ... you and me! And it was not until we see Jesus hanging on
the cross that we hear His dying words that sum up His focused heart. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said,
"It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. John 19:30
His commission, purpose and duty were fulfilled and
completed as requested of the Father. Jesus had a focused heart.
Scripture to Claim:
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to
give His life a ransom for many. Mark
10:45
