who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. they are upsetting the faith of some. [2 timothy 2:18]
i spent one semester, my sophomore year of college, at a university in denver, colorado. and it was awesome! rock climbing, hiking up glaciers and sliding back down them, snow shoeing. and i guess school was good too. i remember on one of the first warm spring days of the year it felt like everyone in the school was hanging out in the field on campus. and for the first time in my life i was introduced to slacklining. if you’re not familiar, you can google it of course, but it’s basically like tightrope walking except the line is slack instead of tight. my friend had tied a slackline between two trees and everyone was taking turns giving it their best shot. i learned very quickly that I was not good at slacklining. fall after fall i grew more and more frustrated. by the end of the afternoon i had finally managed to take a few steps before having to bail. the best advice someone gave me that improved my ability was to keep my eyes focused on the tree ahead of me, not on my feet or even on the rope. the reason is, the tree is unmoving. it is staying put and that is where you want to end up. keeping your eyes fixed on the tree gives you and anchor point. your body instinctively moves towards it and you are shooting for a fixed target rather that the swaying rope or moving feet.
the gospel is a never changing anchor point. if our desire is to walk a path of holiness, in obedience to God, then we have to pay attention to where our eyes are focused. when our eyes wander, we strayed from the truth. we naturally gravitate towards the thing that has our attention and desire. if we spend our days with eyes fixed on the things of this world – money, people, power, jobs – then our hearts will swerve from the truth and move steadily towards something else. which is why it is vital that we consistently sit in the presence of God. with our eyes fixed on our savior, Jesus.
ask yourself today, are my eyes fixed on Jesus, or is there something else that has my focus? then, repent of whatever has taken priority above Christ and turn your eyes back to him, and be refreshed by the truth of the gospel.
therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. [hebrews 12:1–3]
~ keith kozlowski