“Eyes On Jesus” ( Hebrews 12: 2, HCSB ) by Carley Evans

Let us “keep our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith.” Once again, the Holy Spirit gives us a succinct picture of the good news. The gospel is here in this single statement — Jesus is both the source and the perfecter of our faith.

Therefore, our attention — our eyes — should be focused on Jesus, not on others and certainly not on our selves.

Now this is not to say we should not “lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us” and “run with endurance the race that lies before us.” (Hebrews 12:1) Indeed we are called by the same Holy Spirit to do both. We are called to put off the old man and put on our new nature.

The good news, however, is that we “have been taken hold of by Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:12) Yet, we “pursue as [our] goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13) After all, “our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20) And our Savior has “the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself.” (Philippians 3:21)

Therefore, “everything that was a gain to [us], [we] consider to be a loss because of Christ.” (Philippians 3:7) Think of those things we once considered as gains: status, church standing, friends, obedience to rules and regulations. Now these have no value in our walk with God — Why? Because only Christ is the source and perfecter of our faith.