ARE YOU CROSS-EYED?

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  (Hebrews 12:2, NIV)

In our culture today, it’s very hard to be cross-eyed.  By that I mean daily fixing our eyes on Jesus Christ and meditating on His death on the cross.  It’s also very difficult to stay focused on Christ when so many other activities demand our time and attention.  One reason I am thankful to God for Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (or “CFIDS”) is that it forces me to rest, and it’s during my rest times that I can pray, listen to praise and worship CD’s, read my Bible or a devotional book, memorize Scripture and focus on Jesus Christ.  Many Christians in our society today don’t take time (or have time) to exercise these spiritual disciplines.

In Scripture, someone who was totally sold out to Jesus Christ was the Apostle Paul.  Paul’s main goal in life was to know Christ and he counted everything else as loss or, in the Greek, “dung” (Phil. 3:7-8).  Paul literally cast away from him everything that interfered with his relationship to Christ (v. 8).  He also fully recognized that salvation is not attained by any human effort, but only through faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross (v. 9).

In my own Christian walk, Paul encourages me to forget what is behind and reach forward to what is ahead, and to “press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14).  I can leave my sins and failures in the past and continue reaching forward to what Christ has in store for me.

How about you?  Are your eyes fixed on Jesus today?  Do you desire to know and serve Him above all else?  That, my friend, is being cross-eyed.  And, like Paul, we will find that nothing in this life can compare to knowing Christ!

Dear Jesus, help us every day to fix our eyes on You and serve You with our whole hearts!