Hebrews 4
By Pastor Jerry
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?
Years ago when I was in youth ministry, one of my favorite things to do was to teach kids to snow ski. I’d spend the morning teaching them to stop and turn and then set them free on the bunny slops for the rest of the day. When I thought they were ready, I’d take them up the chair lift to the top of the beginner run. Just before we took off to practice stopping and turning I would always tell them, “Don’t look at the lift towers.” Now that may sound like strange advice, but after working with a lot of beginners I discovered that if they focus on the lift towers, trying not to hit them, they inevitably run into one. It’s the same principal my driver’s training instructor taught me about keeping my eyes down the road toward the horizon. If I wanted to keep the car between the lines, I couldn’t have my focus on the ditches. We usually end up drifting toward whatever we’re focused on.
What’s true for skiing and driving is also true in life. Whatever captures your attention controls your life. Have you ever tried to stop thinking about something? It is almost impossible; particularly if your thoughts are centered on something that you are anxious about or tempted by. In order to change our focus, we have to think about something else. In yesterday’s passage from Hebrews Chapter 3, the writer warns us not to let our hearts be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. And today we’re reminded that people with hard hearts are deaf to the Lord’s voice. So, how do we heed the warning? One way would be for us to make a list of sins to be avoided and then try not to think about them. This sounds a lot like trying not to hit the lift tower by focusing on it. The answer is actually found in “holding firmly to the faith we profess.”
When you “Fix your thoughts on Jesus” you will discover that you can “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
So the question is where have you fixed your gaze?
