As a Man Sees – The Power of Sight
WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL BY PATRICE TSAGUE
Do you understand the power of sight?
What are your eyes, and therefore your attention, focused on?
Are you focused on your problems and the world’s riches, or are you focused on Jesus and His promises?
| … looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. – Hebrews 12:2 (NKJV) |
As a Man Sees – The Power of Sight
Our eyes have the power to either draw us away from the things of God or keep us focused on God’s plan for our lives. The opening phrase of Hebrews 12:2 is also translated as “fixing our eyes on Jesus” or “keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,” denoting an unwavering focus on Him and attentiveness to Him. What we primarily focus our eyes and therefore our attention on will go a long way toward determining our destiny.
Eve was tricked by Satan into focusing her eyes on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and it led her and also her husband Adam to eat the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:1-6). This led to the fall of man. While attempting to walk on water, instead of focusing on Jesus, who was calling him to come to Him, Peter focused on the boisterous wind and began to sink (Matthew 14:28-30).
When Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness by the devil, and offered the kingdoms of this world and their splendor if He would bow down and worship him, Jesus kept His eyes fixed and focused on the Word and upon His mission (Matthew 4:1-11). That led Him to defeat the devil and to successfully launch His ministry.
What are your eyes focused on?
Are your eyes focused on the success and riches you will achieve through business, or on the rewards that come through faithfully carrying out God’s plan for your life? Are your eyes focused on global and personal challenges, or on the joy that God gives us in the midst of trials? Are your eyes focused on your business and personal issues, or are they focused on the Lord and His promises?
What your eyes focus on will shape you and go a long way toward determining your destiny. After the writer of Hebrews finished his ‘Hall of Faith’ message in Hebrews 11, he began Hebrews 12 with these words, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
In other words, since we have all these ‘heroes of the faith,’ whose stories speak of God’s faithfulness and goodness, let’s stop focusing our attention on all the problems we are facing and the temptations that lure us, and instead focus our attention and fix our eyes upon Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith.
What does it mean to focus our eyes on Jesus? It means prioritizing the importance, time, and attention given to applying the following to every aspect of our lives:
- The Word of God
- God’s promises
- The price that Jesus paid
- The power of His resurrection
- The significance of Christ’s return
It means acknowledging the personal significance of each of these things, and living our lives while focused upon them so that the storms of life cannot shift us from our destiny in Christ.
What are your eyes focused on?
Are you focusing on Jesus, or are you focusing on your problems and the temptations of this world?
For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. – 1 John 2:16 (NKJV)
Remember, what your eyes, and therefore your attention, are focused on will shape you and go a long way toward determining your destiny.
My prayer for you today is that God will help you to keep your focus on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith, rather than on your business and personal problems so that everything will be placed into the correct perspective and your divine destiny will be fulfilled.
This devotional was taken from the book The Buck Stops With You, by Patrice Tsague and Gabrielle E. Tsague. To learn the other 8 virtues to take control of your life and realize your destiny, click on the button below to purchase the book:
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