Keep Your Eyes On Jesus
In 1 Peter 1:15-16 we read, “Just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
What does the holy life mean to you? What would the holy life be in one word? In one word, the holy life could be described in a word that does not appear in most dictionaries. And that would be the word ‘yieldedness.” Often your point of yieldedness or surrender comes to a key area in your life - your job, your family, your future . . . it could be someone who is very special to you. Satan wants to confuse us, he wants to divide our loyalties.
I remember being in Dallas, Texas, and while there, I saw a very interesting painting. It was a large painting - probably 2 ½ feet wide and 3 feet long. It was a large, facial picture of the artist’s idea of the face of Christ. In the lower right-hand corner, there was a round, black spot . . . probably 3 inches in diameter. The spot seemed to have nothing to do with the rest of the beautiful painting. I looked at the picture of Jesus; it was magnificent, and then I would glance down at the black spot. It seemed so out of place in the painting. Three or four times I looked at the face of Jesus, and then my eyes were drawn to the out of place black spot. After a few moments, my eye caught a caption at the bottom of the painting. It said: “Notice, you cannot keep your eyes on Jesus and on the black spot at the same time.” Then, it added, “What is it in your life that is represented by the black spot?” I would ask this question: What is it in your life that tries to take your eyes off of Jesus?
If we would be a holy person, we must keep our eyes focused on Jesus. Ask yourself: Is there anything in my life that is threatening my clear view of Jesus? Is there any area where Satan is trying to hinder my loyalty to serving the Lord? Is there anything that’s becoming a ‘black spot’ in my life?
Take it as a word of warning . . . make whatever correction you need to make, and keep your eyes on Jesus.
Dr. Lenny Wisehart, NBC Executive Committee Board of Trustees and Senior Pastor of South Lake Church of the Nazarene
Published: 04/29/2019
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