Looking
to Jesus.... (Hebrews 12:2 ESV)
There is a real touch of Paul in this Letter to the Hebrews –
"Looking off unto Jesus." Whoever actually wrote this Letter, the
shadow of Paul is over it. His influence is everywhere. And certainly he was
called upon to look off unto Jesus. Now that is a very vital lesson for us to
learn. We have to do that again and again in our Christian life. If we get our
eyes upon anything but the Lord Jesus we just go to pieces. Have all respect
for God's saints. I am not saying that you have to eye every servant of God
with suspicion and be saying all the time: "Well, of course, he is not
perfect, you know." Give honor to whom honor is due, but never build your
faith upon any man, however good he may be.
And as for ourselves – well, I think perhaps we are more tempted
to look at ourselves than anything else! This is one of our real Christian
exercises. We have continually to remove our eyes from ourselves and everything
to do with ourselves. There is nothing more discouraging than this self of
ours, and nothing more misleading. Our own judgments are all wrong, and so are
our thoughts and ideas. They are not God's thoughts. We must take our eyes off
ourselves, but not look out into space and be vacant. "Look off unto Jesus," and
you know how that sentence is finished – "Jesus, the author and finisher of
our faith." Did you start this thing? Are you a Christian because you
decided to be a Christian? Well, the Lord help you if that is so! No, He
started this thing. Are you not glad that you can say: "It was the Lord who
found me. It was the Lord who put His hand on me." What He said is very
true: "Ye did not choose Me, but I chose you" (John 15:16).
He was the author of our faith, and it says that He is the finisher – He will
finish it.
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