As a young boy summer evenings were spent attending various New England church revivals. Some were held under a huge circus tent while others were in a back yard of a member's home.
I remember such a time standing in a crowded tent when the guest speaker asked us to close our eyes. He said the Lord will bring a Scripture to your mind. So I shut my eyes and waited for a few seconds. Suddenly in my mind's eye, I saw a Scripture reference in black typeface ink. It was Colossians 3:2.
Later that night, I read it not fully understanding why this particular verse came to mind, but it was clear I must keep my eyes on Him.
The Scripture reads, "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth" (KJV). Other Bible translations use the word "mind" in place of affection.
How little did I know this verse would revisit me in those challenging seasons in my life marked by victory and failure. Often times failure was a result of not keeping my eyes on Christ but on earthly things. Like Peter, I panicked and my eyes shifted from Christ to the stormy circumstances only to find myself sinking beneath the waves of sorrow and anxiety.
Beloved, we can't help but be changed when we keep our eyes on Christ. Even if it gets dark or when confusion clouds our mind, or some obstacle is blocking our vision, Jesus is still there with us. When we fix our eyes on Him, our affections come into a fresh perspective. We see differently and as the original meaning in Greek suggests, we behave differently.
You may be familiar with the expression you are what you eat. Likewise who (or even what) we fix your eyes on reveals much about our heart's affection than most of us want to admit. The more you look at Christ than in the mirror of your life, you will be transformed.
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (I John 3:2 NIV)
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