For the past several days my daily verses have been a reminder that Resurrection Sunday is on the horizon. This year, 2022, Easter falls on April 17, just eight days away. One of my verses this morning came from Hebrews 12:2 and was a reminder to keep our eyes on Jesus.
“Keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.” [HCSB]
I think for the next eight days it would be a good thing to keep our eyes on Jesus. Too often other things of life try to occupy our focus, and frequently succeed in doing so. We get distracted by the immediate, the things right in front of us, and we forget to look up at the most important eternal truths.
When that happens the source of our strength, the motivation for life begins to blur. Things of great important fall into the shadows as the glitter and glamour this world adores captures our attention.
Sometimes it is not glitter and glamour that seize us but discouragement and hopelessness. So much in this world keeps us unsettled. We allow anxiety and worry to consume us. The eternal falls by the wayside when we do not know how to keep up with inflation, wonder if we can pay our rent, or find both our gas tank and our bank account empty.
It is then that Hebrews 12:2 must enter our hearts. Jesus for “the joy that lay before Him” (the important/eternal) had to keep that in view so that He could “endure the cross and despise its shame” (the immediate/temporal).
We keep His example before us so that we can do the same.
