Hebrews 12:1, 2 - FIXING OUR EYES ON JESUS.
Hebrews 12:1, 2 (NLT) Therefore, since we
are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses
to the life of faith, let us strip off every
weight that slows us down, especially the sin that
so easily trips us up. And let us run with
endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this
by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who
initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy
awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its
shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor
beside Gods throne.
INTRODUCTION
The Christian life involves hard work. It
requires us to give up whatever endangers our
relationship with God, to run patiently, and to struggle
against sin with the power of the Holy Spirit. To
live effectively, we must keep our eyes on Jesus.
We will stumble if we look away from him to
stare at ourselves or at the circumstances
surrounding us. We should be running for Christ, not
ourselves, and we must always keep him in sight. [Life
Application SB]
COMMENTARY PEARL
Focus on what matters most. In her book
Attention Span, American Psychologist Gloria Mark
highlights how, in 2004, people in the workplace spent
about three minutes on a task before switching to
another; by 2021, that time dropped to every 47
seconds. It seems that keeping peoples attention
is getting more difficult. Mark discovered that
a lack of focus due to external or internal
interruptions, such as needing to find out what year a
famous singer was born in the middle of doing our
homework, often leads to our bodys resources
becoming even more depleted. It is no surprise that
people often feel stressed, exhausted, and burnt
out. However, focusing on what matters most is
essential for completing a task successfully; it is
also vital when it comes to our walk of faith.
Just as our important tasks do not always have
our full attention, could the same be true when
it comes to Jesus having our full focus? Could
there be areas in our lives that require us to
refocus on Him?
In Hebrews, Paul uses the metaphor of a
footrace to describe what running the race of faith
is like. In the Olympics, a runner must have
total focus and perseverance to finish the race
successfully. It would be strange to see an Olympian
represent their country on the world stage, pulling
out their phone, checking their email,
responding to text messages, or updating their profile
picture in the middle of a world final race. More
likely, they are focused on one thing: getting to
the finish line. In the race of faith, Pauls
emphasis is not on competition, who will finish
first, or who is the strongest; instead, His focus
is on Jesus at the finish line. Paul is seeking
to remind us that if we live for God, we need a
healthy view of Jesus through a personal
relationship with Him.
The race of faith is not a picnic or a
party. There will be countless obstacles the enemy
will place on our path to take our eyes off
Jesus. However, when we may feel like giving up, we
can almost hear Paul shouting from the
sidelines, Keep your eyes on Jesus! Not on
ourselves, on Jesus! Not on other people, on Jesus! Not
on our circumstances, but on Christ alone!
Source: Southern Adventist University Chaplain
Joseph Khabbaz
LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY
Hebrews 12:1, 2 - Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2023/20231127-0738.html
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2023/20231022-1110.html
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2023/20230326-1035.html
Hebrews 12:1-3 - THE RACE OF FAITH - RUNNING
WITH JESUS.
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2020/20200507-1202.html
Hebrews 12:3 - So keep your mind on Jesus
Then you won't get discouraged and give up.
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2021/20210111-1048.html
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
https://abible.com/links/
