Fix your Eyes on Jesus by Pastor Ed Young
So let me rush to the third step. Yes, we’re to take a trip to the Hall of Faith. Yes, we’re to remove our warm-ups, the sin that so easily entangles us, we’re to run with hupomones-type endurance, but verse 2 says we’re to focus on the finish line, or as Chris said, to focus on the goal.
What’s our goal? Here it is. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith”. The word “fix” means we’re to trust in Jesus. That’s what the word means. It means “to gaze upon Christ” and here’s the picture. We have the cloud of witnesses. They’re cheering us on. We are running the marathon. The Bible says “don’t look to the left or to the right. Fix your eyes on Jesus” and here’s Jesus, He’s standing at the finish saying, “Come on. Keep your eyes focused on me. Watch me. Watch me”. Think about Peter. Jesus said, “Walk on water, Peter”. Everything was fine, “I love walking on water” and the moment he looked down and took his eyes off Jesus, he sunk.
We’re running this marathon. Here we go. The people are going nuts. They’re cheering and we need to focus on the finish line. If we keep our eyes on Christ everything is going to go. We’re going to go through difficult times. We’re going to hit the wall. We’ll run through quitting points. But if we keep our eyes focused on Jesus, we will receive the crown, we will receive the award and that’s what Jesus Himself did because the Bible says, “let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author, the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him…”, think about Chris, the goal, the joy set before Him, before Christ, He was thinking about this as He was dying on the cross for our sins, the Resurrection, the exaltation, He was thinking about sitting at the right hand of the Father, “who for the joy set before Him”, here’s our word, “endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”. Verse 3 says, “Consider Him who endured such opposition from simple men so that you will not grow weary and lose heart”.
