Remember Jesus [Job 29]
1And Job again took up his discourse and said,
2"Oh that I were as in months gone by,
As in the days when God watched over me;
3When His lamp shone over my head,
And by His light I walked through darkness;
4As I was in the prime of my days,
When the friendship of God was over my tent;
5When the Almighty was yet with me,
And my children were around me;
6When my steps were bathed in butter,
And the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
7"When I went out to the gate of the city,
When I took my seat in the square,
8The young men saw me and hid themselves,
And the old men arose and stood.
The temptation for Job was to look back at what he had in the past and wish he could have it again. It is a gallant attempt to deal with his pain but it seemed to increase his focus on his self. I have found myself in the same place many times. When I am not comfortable in my current situation, I look back and think about how the past was so wonderful. It becomes glamorized, the not so great parts forgotten.
In the book of Hebrews, the author addressed this problem. The people he was writing to not only looked back with fondness at their old way of life, they plunged back to living that way (offering sacrifices and living by the law) to avoid the suffering they were under. God told them, "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
We can't run the race looking back. He calls us instead to fix our eyes on Jesus,"the author and perfecter of faith." Fixing means to look away from everything else and to focus on one thing - Jesus. Jesus offered a great example of not growing weary and losing heart. He did not sit and wish to be back in the good old days of heaven with the Father. Instead He greeted with joy what God had for Him. He endured great pain and hostility because His eyes were on God and the plan of salvation that would be offered to all.
As we remember Your incredible suffering Jesus, we are so grateful that You loved us so much that You joyfully took our sin on Yourself and died in our place. We praise You that You are the author and perfecter of faith. Your blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness. You are the light. You keep us walking in the light as You are in the light. (1 John 1:7) Cause us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus today.
Verna McCrillis, 2/1/2011