How many times have you sang the
song “Jesus, Be the Center…” or if you are a little older, the words of the old
hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” and wondered, “How do I do this in my everyday
life?” It’s easier to focus on Jesus on a Sunday morning when we sing about
Jesus and hear a sermon about Him, though I have to admit that I drift even
during these special times pulled by the tide of earthly concerns. How much
more difficult is it to fix our eyes on Jesus as the author and perfecter of
our faith when we are in the middle of a hectic week pulled away from Him by
the riptide of the urgent. What does it mean to “fix our eyes on Jesus”?
Have you ever had a baby “fix” her
eyes on you? I have. Sometimes it feels almost eerie if you get one of those “I’m
seeing through you” stares from them. Wherever I move, those little eyes
follow. She has no idea that staring is considered impolite; instead, she is
tracing every move I make. This is the kind of complete fixation that God has
intended us to have for Jesus. He wants us to study His every move, so that we
can recognize Him and His work not just when we read about it in the Bible, but
when we see it in our everyday lives. To do this, we must first begin with His
Word getting to know the real Jesus.
He has given us a clear picture of
who He is in His word. Read the gospels. I need to insert here a quick “shout
out” to my husband. As we read a chapter a night of the Bible to our children,
he has always been drawn to repeat the gospels- the books of Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John- often. He wants our kids to know exactly who Jesus is. Quite
frequently I hear of people saying, “Yes, Jesus was a good man and He had some
nice sayings we can learn from.” The ironic thing is, almost none of them have
even read His words. They are just repeated some opinion held by an authority
they respect. The challenge is to know Him for who He really is, not who
someone else says He is. Read the gospels, in fact, read the whole counsel of
Scripture. It all points to Jesus. In order to “fix your eyes on Jesus”,
letting Him rescue you from the riptide of the urgent, you have to spend time
getting to know Him.
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 1922
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 1922
