December 22nd, 2021
First of all, Merry Christmas! There is no better time of year to refocus our hearts on Jesus, the One who was born to die, for us. The Bible says in Hebrews 12:2 that He is the “founder and perfecter of our faith” Another version calls Him the “author and finisher of our faith.” He starts it and he ends it. He creates it and He completes it. This is encouraging! How many of you have ever felt like you didn’t have enough faith for something? I think we’ve all been there at one point or another, if we’ve been walking with Jesus for any length of time. Many of us have a tendency, at that point, to begin trying to muster faith up by our own will and emotions. We try to appear strong and “feel” like we have faith. However, we can’t create faith in our own hearts. Faith comes by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). We know that Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:14), so we understand that faith comes only through Him.
Hebrews 12:1-2, in its entirety, says,
“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.”
I love the metaphor Paul uses there: “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus.” Have you ever been in a race, maybe as a kid, and looked behind you or to the side to see how your competition was doing? If you have, you know it doesn’t go well. Your feet will follow your eyes and it’ll cause your defeat. Even if you don’t stumble or veer off track, you’ll certainly slow down. In horseracing, the solution to this was to put “blinders” on racehorses to block their peripheral vision, because if a horse gets distracted by the crowds or the other horses, the race will be lost!
It is exactly the same in our walk with Jesus. The only way to run our race with endurance is to keep the eyes of our hearts firmly fixed on Jesus.
We see a picture of this in Matthew 14:28-31:
“And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So, Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Peter had the faith and boldness to step out of the boat, and when his eyes were locked on Jesus, he did walk on the water. How cool is that? However, as he was walking toward Jesus, he heard the roar of sea and saw the waves crashing around him. He used his natural eyes to evaluate the impossibility of the situation and the moment he did, he began to sink. He cried out, “Lord save me” and Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and pulled him up, but He still rebuked him for his doubt! If Peter had kept his eyes on Jesus instead of the waves, he could have walked all the way to Jesus without sinking! How often do we do this in our own lives? Jesus is standing out on the water, in the middle of our miracle, calling us to come, but we get distracted by the “impossibility” and doubt on the way there!
The answer to this is to look only at Jesus. Peter’s faith wouldn’t have wavered if he’d kept his attention on Jesus instead of the noise. The same is true for us. If we’re captivated by Jesus, we won’t be able hear anything except his voice saying “come.” The Bible says that “His voice is as the roar of many waters” (Rev. 1:15). Have you ever heard the roar of a river or a powerful waterfall? It is deafening. It drowns out every other sound, including your own voice, if you stand close enough. This is what Jesus’ voice will do to our doubts, if we keep our hearts fixed on Him.
Anyone in the Word of God who persevered by faith did it in the face of impossible situations.
Abraham was promised a son when he and his wife were in their old age! It was not possible, humanly speaking, for he and Sarah to have a child. However, the Bible tells us that he “did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God (Isaac), but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.” Abraham did not weaken in faith in the face of impossibility, because his heart was set on the promise of God, not his circumstances. As believers, we should look “not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient (temporary), but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corin. 4:18). We have to remember when we’re facing impossible things that our future is not dependent upon what we see around us, but upon the Word of God!
The world is loud, and the enemy will always try to distract us from Jesus with the roar of the waves. However, the voice of Jesus is always louder if we keep our eyes fixed on him. Especially in this Christmas season, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, Iet’s refocus our hearts on the author and finisher of our faith. Let’s run our race with our eyes fixed firmly forward. When we really look at Jesus, He will absolutely captivate us, and faith will work in our hearts as He wills. All we have to do is believe Him and we will step out of the boat, right into every one of His good promises.
Hebrews 12:1-2, in its entirety, says,
“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.”
I love the metaphor Paul uses there: “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus.” Have you ever been in a race, maybe as a kid, and looked behind you or to the side to see how your competition was doing? If you have, you know it doesn’t go well. Your feet will follow your eyes and it’ll cause your defeat. Even if you don’t stumble or veer off track, you’ll certainly slow down. In horseracing, the solution to this was to put “blinders” on racehorses to block their peripheral vision, because if a horse gets distracted by the crowds or the other horses, the race will be lost!
It is exactly the same in our walk with Jesus. The only way to run our race with endurance is to keep the eyes of our hearts firmly fixed on Jesus.
We see a picture of this in Matthew 14:28-31:
“And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So, Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Peter had the faith and boldness to step out of the boat, and when his eyes were locked on Jesus, he did walk on the water. How cool is that? However, as he was walking toward Jesus, he heard the roar of sea and saw the waves crashing around him. He used his natural eyes to evaluate the impossibility of the situation and the moment he did, he began to sink. He cried out, “Lord save me” and Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and pulled him up, but He still rebuked him for his doubt! If Peter had kept his eyes on Jesus instead of the waves, he could have walked all the way to Jesus without sinking! How often do we do this in our own lives? Jesus is standing out on the water, in the middle of our miracle, calling us to come, but we get distracted by the “impossibility” and doubt on the way there!
The answer to this is to look only at Jesus. Peter’s faith wouldn’t have wavered if he’d kept his attention on Jesus instead of the noise. The same is true for us. If we’re captivated by Jesus, we won’t be able hear anything except his voice saying “come.” The Bible says that “His voice is as the roar of many waters” (Rev. 1:15). Have you ever heard the roar of a river or a powerful waterfall? It is deafening. It drowns out every other sound, including your own voice, if you stand close enough. This is what Jesus’ voice will do to our doubts, if we keep our hearts fixed on Him.
Anyone in the Word of God who persevered by faith did it in the face of impossible situations.
Abraham was promised a son when he and his wife were in their old age! It was not possible, humanly speaking, for he and Sarah to have a child. However, the Bible tells us that he “did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God (Isaac), but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.” Abraham did not weaken in faith in the face of impossibility, because his heart was set on the promise of God, not his circumstances. As believers, we should look “not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient (temporary), but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corin. 4:18). We have to remember when we’re facing impossible things that our future is not dependent upon what we see around us, but upon the Word of God!
The world is loud, and the enemy will always try to distract us from Jesus with the roar of the waves. However, the voice of Jesus is always louder if we keep our eyes fixed on him. Especially in this Christmas season, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, Iet’s refocus our hearts on the author and finisher of our faith. Let’s run our race with our eyes fixed firmly forward. When we really look at Jesus, He will absolutely captivate us, and faith will work in our hearts as He wills. All we have to do is believe Him and we will step out of the boat, right into every one of His good promises.
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