I’ve got my eye on You!
Hebrews 12:1-3
“I’ve got my eye on you”, is a saying that we all have heard at one time or other. Maybe it was when you received a warning from a person of authority, a police officer who gave you a break but tells you that if they catch you speeding again you will get more than a warning. I remember the days in the principles office or the stern warning from a parent, “I’ve got my eye on you”.
This year around New Years, brother Phil Bailey came up to me and placed a plastic eyeball in my hand and insured me that he would be keeping an eye on me this year.
So this morning I want to share with you, where we should and where we shouldn’t have or eyes on.
Let’s start with where we shouldn’t have our eyes on.
We shouldn’t have our eyes on others
Now when I say this, I don’t mean that we should be walking about with our eyes closed. What I mean is we should not be going around judging other.
Matthew 7:1-3 Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye.
Sometimes we are so busy looking at others that we sometimes miss out on what God wants us to see. Maybe you come to church and you didn’t enjoy the music or the sermon because you were there, but your mind was elsewhere or should I say on some one else.
For example, one time several years ago the Holidays invited my wife and I to the Marshall MAC championship football game. Now the stands were full and the kickoff was about to begin but my eyes were following some crazy Western Michigan fans running around on Marshall’s stands waving a big huge Western Michigan Flag. Needless to say, that was not very smart and when they rounded the student section they found that out. So here was the opening kick off on the championship game and I was watching the fight instead of the game.
I think the same thing happens in our church’s now days. You might have some kind of a tiff with someone in the church and you are to busy keeping your eyes on them that you total miss out what God intended you to see. You don’t enjoy the service, the music, or the sermon but you never have the right attitude to do so. You are too busy watching the fight to enjoy the game like I did.
When we stand before God, and someday all of us will; saved, lost, everyone, He will not ask us about anyone else. There will not be any questions like did you see what so in so did. You will only have to give an account about what YOU have done or not done.
So we need to keep our eyes off the things that others are doing and more on what we should be doing and ourselves.
The next thing we shouldn’t have our eyes on is…
We should not have our eyes on the wrong things
Some things we should not look at. When God destroyed Sodom, Lot and his family were told not to look back but yet Lot’s wife did and she turned into a salt lick. Some things just should not be looked at.
Of course there are the obvious things the Bible commands us not to look at. You are not to look at someone and have impure thoughts about them. The Bible says by says that by doing so that you have committed adultery in your mind.
You should not look at fermented wine. The book of Proverbs tells us not to look on the wine when it swirls around smoothly, or it is fermented.
And of course the one that made the Ten Commandments is lusting by looking at what others have and wanting it for yourself.
But what are some of the not-so noticeable things we should not look at?
We should not be looking back at our failures. Sometimes we look at our past and cannot move forward with the future. How many of us would never know the pleasure of riding a bike if we would have never got back on after our first spill?
You see instead of letting your failures prevent you from being what God wants you to be, learn from them, but don’t let them prevent you from doing God’s will.
Luke 9:62 But Jesus said to him, “No one having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God”.
What Jesus was saying here that the cost of Discipleship is not looking back, but as Paul said, “Press on”.
Don’t let a failed marriage or a bad experience keep you form doing what God would have you to do.
Another wrong thing that people look at is other god’s. That is another one of the Ten Commandments. But anything that you look at and put before your relationship with God is wrong. Whether it is our hobbies, our habits, our family or even our job. Christ and our relationship with Him should be our primary focus.
Another thing that we should not look at is the negatives. We should always being looking for the good instead of focusing on the bad. I know that most times when someone tells me that they have a question for me, I respond with true before they even have a chance to ask the question. It just sounds so much more positive than false.
Hebrews 3:13 tells us to, “exhort one another daily”. I try to look for the good in someone rather than the bad. Sometimes it is hard to find the good, but maybe a little bit of encouragement can help the person be a better person.
So let me practice what I am preaching what I am preaching and go to a more positive topic by telling you what you should look at and how to do so.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.
Have you ever listened to the words of the song when you sing it? When you look at Jesus the other things of this world that Satan uses to distract us seem to disappear. You come to a church and instead of worry what the others around you are doing; you come with the right attitude and you worship Him. That is why you should come to church.
I hear people say, “I don’t want to go to church because of all the hypocrites there”. I feel like telling them to come on there is always room for one more.
And people get upset with others and they get their feelings hurt and don’t want to go to church. Why don’t you try the positive attitude and come and instead of seeing what you can get from the service, see what you can give to the service.
In our text it tells us of three things that when we turn our eyes upon Jesus will happen.
The first thing you can have when you turn your eyes upon Jesus is…
a. Purpose (Hebrews 12:1)
What is the purpose of being a Christian? What are we here for?
Now growing up, I learned not to question why when asked to do something but the thought did cross my mind often. Even now at a work party or something and I am asked to do something I often wonder why did I have to do that. So why should we run the race as our text says?
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before beforehand that we should walk in them.
Garth Brooks has a video entitled "Standing Outside the Fire." In this video a it tells the story of a high school student who joins the track team. There is one thing different about this boy, he has Downs Syndrome. He sees the coach putting the sign up sheet on one of the bulletin boards and decides to take a chance and join the team. His mother was all for it. She would help him train and give encouragement. He father on the other hand, didn’t want him to do it all. He was worried that he might get hurt or that people might make fun of him. I think he was also worried that he might be embarrassed. None of this stopped the boy from joining the track team. He had a purpose, to run in a track meet.
Finally, after all his training and hard work, the day he had been waiting for was here, the day of his first track meet. The stands were full. There in the crowd of onlookers, sat his father. He got set in the starting blocks. With the loud bang of the starters pistol they were off. He was doing well, he wasn’t a Jesse Owens, but he was doing all right. Suddenly something happened. He stumbled and fell. The coach ran out to help him up and get him off the track, when all of a sudden, his father runs out and stops the coach.
He tells the boy to get up and finish the race. With a renewed since of purpose the boy pulled himself up. Bleeding and limping, he shuffled to the finish line, where he received a warm embrace from his father. His father was so proud of him.
That young boy’s purpose, to run the race that was marked out before him, and to win his father’s approval.
What is our purpose, to run the race marked out before us, our Christian walk, and to receive the approval of our Heavenly Father. We see this purpose when we look to Christ. When we look at His life, then we see our purpose.
My question is, do you have that purpose today? Are you running the race that has been marked out for you?
The first thing we see when we turn our eyes on Jesus is our purpose, the second is our model of…
b. Persistence
Verse one stats, “let us run with endurance”. Run with endurance the race set before us. Don’t let things get you down or hold you back. Like that boy in the story I told earlier. His father was saying that he didn’t want him to do it because of this and that. He faced insurmountable odds with his "special needs." But he didn’t let any of that break his stride. He was persistent. Even when he fell, he didn’t let that break his stride. He got back up and finished the race. He ran with perseverance.
We need to be that way. When we get it from all sides that we can’t make it. We need to be focused on Jesus and be persistent. When we stumble, we need to get back up and run with endurance. Our stride needs to be true and sure. A steady pace to the finish. Our purpose drives our persistence. Then you have our…
c. Perspective
When we fix our eyes on Jesus, instead of our own circumstances, we have done everything that we need to endure in our faith. He is our example and model, for He focused on the joy that was set before Him. His attention was not on the agonies of the cross, but on the crown; not on the suffering, but the reward.
What is our reward? A eternity in Heaven with Jesus and to hear Him say, “Well done thy good and faithful servant”. And to do that, we have to have our eyes on Him.
