Keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.- Hebrews 12:2
Jesus lived a fulfilling life of 33 years here on earth. He experienced betrayal and faced a gruesome death. The most surprising thing is that Jesus knew that this would happen. He knew that shame and pain were on the way yet He did not run away. Even in times of weakness in the Garden of Gethsemane, He chose to obey God’s will and not His feelings at the time. In everything we look to our perfect example -Jesus- the achievement of our goals included.
He came to the earth with a goal in mind – to deliver mankind. This seemingly simple goal required that he should be killed. So the road to achieving this goal was difficult yet we learn from the book of Hebrews that He was able to endure the shame and the pain because of the joy he had set before Him.
Jesus was motivated by the joy of our salvation, the joy that we would be seated with Him on the Lord’s day. The joy that through His death many(we) would become sons of God.
Technically setting joy before you is akin to knowing your why.
“Why are you living your life the way you do?”
“Why did you start that project”
“Why did you start building that habit”
"Why did you think of breaking that habit?"
‘Why did you start that business”
Individually, you might have an answer for each one of the questions and that's good but a closer look at the text will show you that the object of our focus must be Jesus. Keeping your eyes on Jesus - He focused on sitting at the right hand of the Father and we must in turn focus on Him. Jesus is the prize.
If the “why” is fickle, based on some man-made construct, motivation will be weak but if the “why” is based on something divine, God will grant grace.
I believe we all agree that “no gree for anybody” is our theme for the year. In formal terms, we are insisting on what the Lord has planned for us making no way for the enemy or anybody else. But if we’re being honest it can be quite tough doing God’s will (which is our goal) in our sin-ridden world. It is even tougher to cultivate self-discipline to do even the things He has granted you grace for. But if we set joy (Christ) before us like the Lord did, it would be easier.
In a generation that is obsessed with taking the easy and “soft” approach to life, I think it is important that we constantly renew our minds using the sacrifice of Jesus as our template.
For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you won’t grow weary and give up.- Hebrews 12:3.
If we set goals, we should be ready for the rough and bumpy road that may come. We might not foresee it but we should be ready nonetheless. God will empower us but it is our responsibility to utilize the grace so that it will not be in vain (1 Corinthians 15:10). I love how the writer of Hebrews admonishes us to lay aside every weight, he makes it sound as if that hindrance (sin, bad habit, obstacle) is like a piece of clothing that you can just take off.
Isn't that a bit of an oversimplification?
Not really, because that is what the grace of God does. If we approach running the race with our ability, failure is inevitable but if we rely on God's strength, then it gets easier.
Keep your eyes on the cross.
Keep your eyes on the promise.
Keep your eyes on the Jesus.
Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us. – Hebrews 12:1
Our stories are no different, from the millions of witnesses who have gone ahead of us following the same path of knowing their “why”. The “why” of pleasing the Lord, doing His will, and making Him proud. We have their stories as a guide to help us in our journey.
As we meditate on the gift of Christ's death and resurrection this Easter, let us remember to set our eyes on Christ, our chief joy.
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