Scrolling through Facebook Sunday afternoon, I ran into a gazillion happy faces of Easter celebrants with their friends and families. Then there are the memes, those artsy pictures with slogans, sayings or verses printed on them, all over social media. I wondered with the elevated emotions during the holiday weekend, how do we hang on to all this positive energy?
Look at Jesus.
Like any other day, I turn my attention to Jesus. Right now I have the weight of delicious cherry-berry-pineapple cobbler in my belly and a hefty smile from the jokes and stories during our gathering, but I have these blessings because of the gift of Jesus’ life.
“… let us throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV).
Keep our eyes on the prize.
When my gaze strays from its focus on Jesus, I wander off course. It’s no wonder he calls his people sheep—our feet tend to take us into all kinds of crazy situations. We startle easily and repeatedly tangle ourselves up. In this verse from Hebrews 12 we’re told to throw off the things that attempt to hinder us as we run the race.
This isn’t just a suggestion.
In one of the cartoons I watched as a child, a wolf-in-lamb’s-clothing stands on his hind legs and unzips his sheep costume, strips it off and tosses it aside. That’s what we must do.
Remember one of the few times God spoke audibly to people, where he turned three disciples’ attention back to Jesus. I don’t know if he sounded annoyed with them for blabbering while a supernatural event was happening, but he clearly made his point.
“This is my Son, whom I love. With him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5 NIV).
You’ve got my attention, Lord.
by Kathy Sheldon Davis
kathysheldondavis.com 