Title: Look to Jesus
Contents
“Let us look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).
Parkyeon Falls is located under Cheonmasan Mountain, which rises 16km north of Gaeseong-si, Gyeonggi-do. On the way to the waterfall, there is a place where two cliffs meet face to face, and the distance is said to be about 1 meter. However, there are only a few people who can skip this one meter long distance. Even a small child can jump if it is 1 meter on the flat ground, but when you jump while looking at the cliff, your legs will tremble and you will not be able to run. That's why we named the rock the Rock of Decision. Instead of looking down, think of it as a flat ground, look only at the goal in front of you, and make a decision to run. And when you look at it, this distance of one meter is nothing. Don't look back, look forward. The same is true of the religious life. We must look only to Christ.
An American boy picked up a five-dollar bill on the street. After picking it up, he felt so good that he looked at the ground to see if it would happen again, and then it became a habit. Throughout his life, he had a great hobby of picking things up on the street, and he found 29,519 buttons, 54,172 hairpins, thousands of coins, and many other trinkets. However, in picking up such things, he lost many opportunities to see the blue sky or the flowers and birds of the earth and the beauty of nature. That life would eventually end as a scavenger's life.
One shoeshine boy looked at the shoes of passers-by all day long to find shoes to clean. He was able to make a living by doing so, but lost the opportunity to look beyond that. In the end, his life had to end with shoe shine.
There was a time when immigration to the United States was a dream come true. However, now there is a phenomenon of reverse immigration, and many of the problems of the Korean-Korean society are exposed. At that time, people who immigrated to the United States and obtained permanent residency or citizenship were able to drive several cars as they had envy in the past, live in a house worth hundreds of millions of won, play golf, and enjoy the state-of-the-art civilization of the United States. However, after trying all the things that only the privileged could touch and enjoy in the past, I now experience a reality that no one envy or stare at. And only then did I realize that those things were only relative values.
The only goal we should look to in our life is God. If you seek wealth, fame, or comfort in this world, you will have no choice but to live a life of wandering away from God's grace. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, we must first seek His kingdom and His righteousness. Then God will provide everything we need.
"O Lord of heaven, I lift up my eyes to you. As the eyes of a servant wind on the hand of his master, and the eye of a maidservant on the hand of his mother-in-law, our eyes wait for the Lord our God, waiting for mercy on us "(Psalm 123: 1-2)
Even in the same situation, if you only look down, you will fall into despair, but if you lift your eyes and look up, you will find hope.
In the text, Paul said, “Do not look to the things on earth, but to the things above.” The things above are spiritual things that belong to the risen Christ, and things on the earth are worthless things that have already been destroyed by the cross. But Paul was not saying that we should never think about the things of the world. What Paul meant when he said this was to emphasize that the things of the world should not be our goals, our purposes, or our masters. Therefore, even though we are living in the world, we must always have the heart of a citizen of heaven in our hearts and become saints who follow the standard of living as a citizen of heaven.
The Israelites went to Kadesh-barnea on the border of Canaan and wandered in the wilderness for 40 years because of the 12 spies incident. When they were led back to the Red Sea road, this road broke their hearts. Eventually, the people became irritable in the endless wilderness, and they began to complain and complain. Then he was bitten by a fiery serpent and suffered pain and died. It was okay to walk in the wilderness until now, but when he complained and grumbled, he was bitten by a fiery serpent and died. At this time, Moses prayed to God and gave a prescription. He made a bronze serpent and attached it to a pole so that everyone who was bitten by a fiery serpent and died when they saw the bronze serpent hanging high on the pole lived. The brass serpent on a pole is a type of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Like the Israelites, we too often face a state of spiritual exhaustion due to resentment and complaints. At this point, we are in a hurry. Of course, complaints and resentment will pour out. Therefore, the more difficult life becomes, the more we need to develop our spiritual sense through the training of faith. We must fill in our spiritual treasures in our fellowship with God. Just like putting money in a bank, the way to escape from spiritual exhaustion is to look to the Lamb of God who is hung high on the cross. Those who live while looking at God, giving thanks and praise, will ascend like an eagle.
“But those who wait for the LORD will find new strength, and they will soar up on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary, they will walk and not get tired” (Isaiah 40:31).
Just as a sprinter focuses all attention on the destination and runs, looking only forward, we should run the rest of our lives looking only at Jesus who was crucified.
“Not that I say I have already obtained it or that I have perfected it, but I run to seize that for which I was captured by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not consider myself to have caught it yet, but one thing I do: Forget what is behind and grab hold of what is ahead. I run to the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).
*Prayer: Dear Lord, please do not let my life's goal in my folly of pursuing vain and useless things, and save time, so that I can devote time, effort, and money to worthy things that give glory to You. Only look to Jesus and run. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen
* Illustration (1): If you only look at Jesus and walk
In some villages, children had to cross a closed iron bridge to get to school. There were also incidents where children fell into the river due to dizziness while crossing a railway bridge. However, the plump and bulging child crossed the iron bridge without hesitation. When I found out the reason, other children crossed the iron bridge and looked down, they felt dizzy and fell down, but this child with a convex belly couldn't look down, so he looked straight ahead and walked straight ahead and did not fall.
When you see the waves, you fall into the waves. However, if you only look to Jesus and walk, you will be able to walk on the waves. I can trample on the evil Satan who comes to devour me, and I can also trample over the waves of trials. We can destroy the wall of Jericho that stands in our way.
▣ Illustration (2): Look only at Jesus
Pastor Bakei of India was walking with a friend along a rough road across the hills. After a long walk, they crossed a narrow rope bridge that led over the rapids of the valley. When a friend who had crossed that bridge a lot crossed the rope bridge and arrived at the other side first, Pastor Bakei was stunned and barely passing the middle of the bridge.
Pastor Bakei felt dizzy as he looked down at the whirling, howling rapids. It was thought that the bridge was swinging in the opposite direction of the rapids. Then the friend shouted at Pastor Bakei.
“Don’t look down! Look straight at me!”