Title: Looking to Jesus / Hebrews 12:1-3
Depending on what you look at and buy, the results you see will be different. Abraham and Lot were living together, but there were too many livestock, so they could not live together. Abraham and Lot decided to live separately. If Lot went east, Abraham would go west, and if Lot went west, Abraham would go east. Lot looked to the Jordan and chose the place before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, where the waters were abundant. But Abraham looks to the mountain. At that time, the mountain was a symbolic place where God dwelled. Where Lot looked, he looked to material abundance, but Abraham looked to the place where God was with him, even though it was a mountain. What was the result? Lot's wife became a pillar of salt, and Abraham became the father of faith. Depending on what you're looking at and buying, it has huge consequences.
Lamentations of Jeremiah is the writing that sheds tears of sorrow after the destruction of Jerusalem. "Sorry, this city, once there were so many people, how can you sit so quietly now... Tears flow down your cheeks as you weep at night... How is it that the Lord is so angry that you have covered your daughter Zion with a cloud? Beauty of Israel was thrown from heaven to the earth..." What is the cause of tears of sorrow as you look at this ruined country? “Our eyes are broken, because we hoped for help in vain; we looked and looked for a kingdom that would not save us” (Lamentations 4:17). It is the result of not looking to God.
As such, one thing is clear: a life that does not look to the Lord will inevitably lead to disappointment. It was difficult to have children. Raising children with sincerity. Buy and wear only the best clothes, and only buy and feed the most delicious and nutritious food. Don't fall behind in your studies, connect with a good teacher, give tutoring, and say you are preparing for the university entrance exam. Did you spend a long night together without sleeping? Go to a good university and work hard. Then one day, the son got a girlfriend. The caring son begins to leave his mother's arms. All of his feelings were taken away by his girlfriend. No, can my son do this? We lament, but this is the reality of our lives. The disappointment of the parents who only looked at their son would be indescribable.
Start your own business and have the hope that you will succeed. Do your best and work hard. But how many people are disappointed and frustrated when things don't go their way? Some people live their lives looking only at high status for the purpose of success. But how often are you disappointed and discouraged because of it?
Also, some have achieved it for the purpose of business success. He lived his life looking at himself as a success. succeeded. But can success bring true satisfaction? If there is a car you like, watch it carefully as it passes by. Finally bought the car and drove it. But will the car provide lasting satisfaction? If there is a pretty woman passing by to find a pretty bride before marriage, she looks at her with round eyes. In order to find a good husband, if there is such a man, it seems that he does not see him, but he sees clearly. But it cannot bring true satisfaction.
Everything we see in this world often disappoints us, wrinkled like tissue paper, and disappeared like smoke or fog.
In Denmark, with a population of only 5 million, more than 3,000 people commit suicide every year. Why do so many people commit suicide despite their material abundance? This is because the material abundance and good environment in this world cannot give us eternal satisfaction. The text emphasizes, “Let us look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”
Jonah disobeyed God's word and escaped to Tarshish, eventually entering the belly of a large fish. How big is the crisis? It is a place of complete despair, with nowhere to look and no light to be found. But Jonah confesses in such a situation: “I say, though I have been cast out of your sight, I will look to your temple again” (Jon 2:4). Jonah, who was in a great crisis, was able to recover by faith looking to the temple of the Lord without despair.
No matter how difficult the situation is, if we look to Jesus, Jesus always gives us hope. Even if there are many hurts, failures, and hardships in the world, looking to the Lord gives us eternal hope. “Look to the Lord, lest you grow weary and grow weary.”
Jesus goes up the mountain to pray, and the disciples cross the Sea of Galilee in a boat. On the way, a storm arose and the disciples were suffering. There was a riot that everyone was going to die. At that moment Jesus walks on the sea and comes to his disciples. At first, the disciples fear that a ghost has appeared. Jesus said to his disciples, "Take it easy. Don't be afraid, it's me." When Peter gets out of the boat and asks him to let me walk on the water, Peter finally sees Jesus and walks on the stormy sea. Then he saw the wind and was afraid, so he fell into the water.
So are we. The world we live in is like a sailing sailing boat in the constant storm. Everyone lives in fear. How many things are around us to be discouraged? If we look at the elements that frighten us, we die. Peter looked at the wind and fell into the water. But Peter, who looked to the Lord, was able to walk on water. If you look to the Lord, the way to live will be opened. If we look to the Lord, the Lord of hope will guide us. Looking to the Lord gives us the power to overcome any discouragement.
As the book of Isaiah says, "In that day they will cry out to the people like the sound of the waves of the sea, and when a man looks upon the land, there will be darkness and distress, and the light will be hid in a cloud, and darkness" (Isaiah 5:30). It is the image of people who live without looking to the Lord. But Paul said, “We are afflicted on every side, but not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; we are persecuted, but not forsaken; we are thrown down, and not destroyed” is the result of looking to the Lord.
It's called barbed wire mesh. It was coined by US military officers in European POW camps during World War II. He becomes very depressed, his body is dry, he wants to lie down, and he loses his motivation. Characteristically, he complains, grumbles, and acts self-harm. There are many such people, even if it is not a concentration camp or a prison. Those who have lost their hopes Those who are uncertain of their goals are suffering from barbed wire disease and are living in hell, forgetting gratitude.
There is no real satisfaction in living without looking to the Lord and only looking at the world. I hate meeting people because I am disappointed and discouraged. lock yourself up He locks himself in a barbed wire fence. succumb to barbed wire mesh disease.
Lift up your eyes and look to the Lord. As Micah said, "I look to the Lord, and I look to God who saves me; my God will listen to me" (Micah 7:7). What are you looking at?
What are you looking at right now? "Let's look to Jesus and live." until the moment you die.