20/20: Seeing Yourself in Light of the LordSample

“Look At Me”

In this lifetime, you will experience a plethora of both good and bad experiences. You will serve God in mighty ways and you will likely fail to hit the mark in others. The beauty of the Christian life is that the gift of salvation given to you by Jesus launches you into a lifetime of discipleship that will eventually affect your entire being. As each day passes and you continually gaze into the eyes of the Lord more and more, your life begins to transform into the image of Him. Your thoughts will begin to elevate as your focus remains on Jesus. God’s promise to you, as mentioned in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonian Church, is that He is faithful and will sanctify you completely at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul encouraged the Corinthian church to awaken to righteousness and bring their sin to a halt. This is because, in your sin, you cannot be like Jesus. Scripture says that everyone who hopes in Him purifies themselves as He is pure. You are purified when your gaze is set on the Lord. 1 John 3:9 says, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed, abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.” The nature of being born of God and following the life and example of Jesus is that you become like that to which you give your attention. In giving your thoughts and actions to God, you will be purified. He will transform your thoughts and give new purpose to your actions. His will for you is that you fully embrace the family of the Most High. You are a child of God and the promise for His children is that they will receive complete sanctification.

“Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me; sanctification is God’s idea of what He wants to do for me.” — Oswald Chambers

Thoughts to Consider: 

Think back to a time that you were speaking with someone that would not look you in the eyes. While listening to your words they spent their time looking at their thumbs, shoes, the wall, but would not make eye contact with you. You are certain that if they just look up and into your face that they will understand the heart and intention behind your words. Becoming increasingly frustrated, you firmly say to them, “Look at me!” Once they hear the urgency in your voice and look you in the eyes, a connection forms. All of a sudden, things make sense and they understand why you shouted for them to look up at you. 

Life is difficult to navigate when you look anywhere but forward. God is calling you to focus not on what is but WHO IS. He is saying that if you just look to Him as your source of attention, nothing else will matter. He has plans for you, but you will not find them on the floor or the wall. They can only be discovered when you look to Him and refuse to give your attention to the things that do not matter.