Watching Where I'm Walking
- Fixing Our Eyes On Jesus For Life And Godliness
Written by Eileen R. Jacobs
“My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” - I John 2:1-2
This past week, I found myself exposed to the humiliating experience of knowing that "all eyes are on you." Though I wasn't actually naked, I certainly felt like one might feel when all eyes are fixed upon a naked body in broad daylight. Not a single person in proximity to the church parking lot missed the sight of a woman dressed in white coming in for a crash landing on the concrete sidewalk. Though it was certainly no laughing matter, I'd love to catch the instant replay in slow motion with all of the contents in my hands going upwards as my twisted body came down, along with the lightening fast reactions of the plethora of surrounding witnesses. A Hollywood moment...for sure!
Though curled up in pain, with multitudes of body parts throbbing and bleeding, my most vivid concern in the private place of my mind was not my broken body lying on the concrete, but my wounded pride. I was embarrassed because I had fallen. What was worse was that my clumsy fall was seen by everyone in the church parking lot.
There is something about tripping and falling that is incredibly humiliating. We do our best to try to catch ourselves in mid flight. However, if the stumble turns into a fall, we either want to hide ourselves or blame the concrete. Could I have prevented the fall? Perhaps. How many times does the thought come to mind, "You should have watched where you were walking!" I have found that I can still fall even when I am watching my feet. In fact, we're more apt to fall if we watch our feet, as it sets our bodies off balance.
In the Christian life, we are most often set off balance when we are constantly focused on watching where we are walking. There are tons of Christian classes to attend and books to read that teach us how to watch our walking. I wonder if our fixation with watching our walking has, in fact, caused most of us to stumble? If we've become so good at watching our walking, then why do we still fall flat on our face in sin every day? Our eyes were never meant to be focused on ourselves or how well we are walking. Believe it or not, that is the height of self righteousness.
Hebrews 12:2 tells us without reservation that we are to be "fixing our eyes on Jesus." In Proverbs 3:5-6 we learn to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." How do I do that? Have you ever asked that question? How do I fix my eyes on Jesus? How do I trust Him with all my heart? How do I acknowledge Him in all my ways? It begins to happen when I recognize that I can't trust my own heart, or my mind, or my own feelings, but I can trust that what God says about me in His Word is the actual truth.
I may not understand everything that Jesus has done for me yet, but I can trust that He will reveal Himself to me by the Holy Spirit’s revelation as I seek Him in His Word. And the more He reveals Himself to me personally, the more freedom I experience in Him. The more He helps me understand His finished work on the cross, the more I come to understand that He has done it all for me, and walking becomes more like resting. As I acknowledge Him and all He has done on my behalf, my path becomes straight. I am no longer swayed off the trail by the enemy's lies and the power that the sin nature once had over me. I am just like Jesus, a person filled to the full with the love of God and this is what make my faith effective and my fellowship of it even more effective.
“And I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ’s sake.” - Philemon 1:6
Don’t be alarmed that you may still fall from time to time, but as your eyes remain fixed on Jesus and all that He is inside you, your falling becomes a seldom occurrence. Rest assured, dear friends, that if you do fall, Jesus is there to pick you up, dust you off, and remind you that your lifetime of sins have been forgiven and purged forever. The Bible calls Him our “Advocate;” one called to our side, our legal defense. He Himself, in His one righteous act on the cross, secured forever the payment required for all sin, once and for all.
God is eternally satisfied with Jesus' blood payment on the cross. If you have received Jesus as your substitute, your Savior, then God sees you in Christ and He is perfectly satisfied with you because you are in His precious Son. We are acceptable solely on the virtue of Christ and His perfectly finished work. Aren't you glad that according to Romans 8:1 we no longer have to live in embarrassment or shame, even if we fall, because "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
Now that, dear friends, is GRACE!
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” - 2 Corinthians 5:12
written by
Eileen R. Jacobs (July 2009)
Copyright © 2009 Eileen Jacobs Ministries. All rights reserved.
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