Dear brothers and sister in Christ –
Tonight, I sit in the state of Florida. Earlier this week, the temperatures were in the 80s, and the sun was shining brightly. Back home, you were getting eight inches of snow. At almost the same time, my brother in Reno, Nevada, received seventeen inches of snow and was expecting another foot before the end of the day.
As I pondered this, I had an epiphany. It became abundantly clear that our surroundings have a significant impact upon us. This revelation is not startling. We all know it, yet it struck me how easily and how quickly our environment changes us.
Out-of-sight and out-of-mind. It is easy to forget how cold it was at home. Out-of-sight and out-of-mind. It is easy to feel like the Florida winters are cold and uncomfortable when it reaches the lows of 40s and highs of 60s. Out-of-sight and out of mind. It is easy to focus on OUR reality and forget THE reality.
This is the reason why the Bible tells us to “fix our eyes on Jesus.” (Hebrews 12:2). Because there are so many other things upon which we can fix our eyes, the Bible calls us to fix our eyes on Jesus. If we do not fix on eyes upon Him, we will fix them upon something.
So how do we fix our eyes upon Jesus?
- We attend church (online or in-person).
- We attend Bible studies.
- We faithfully pray to God (when we wake up, before meals, and go to bed)
- We meditate upon His Word, day and night.
- We participate in the life of the church by giving some of our life to the church.
As we focus on going to all the world to preach the Gospel, I pray that you keep your eyes focused on Jesus. As you respond, “Here I am,” I pray that you will be looking at Jesus. For when we take our eyes off of Jesus, we will be influenced to believe something else. It is too easy in our lives of business to have Jesus be out-of-sight and out-of-mind.
Blessings,
Pastor Hartwig