Looking
I hope the title captured your curiosity. I own and ride a 1997 Police Editon Harley Davidson Roadking Motorcycle. I truly enjoy it, but I have to employ safe practices to do so. It is a very large and heavy bike. It is classified as a cruiser and, for some cruisers, can be tricky to handle in tight turns.
The top riding trainer offers the following advice when wishing to turn without a problem. Look where you want to go. If you want to make a tight right turn, look at where you want to go. You will not make the turn looking straight ahead or to the left. To make an effective turn, you need to look at where you want to go.
Another road rule often offered to all who operate motorized vehicles is not to drive distracted. Distracted driving is dangerous and has led to many accidents. Everyone should be looking at where they are going if they wish to get there. To reach the end of your journey, you must look in the right direction at all times.
There’s a spiritual principle that we can extract from this.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
This verse basically says not to get distracted and not to multitask things you shouldn’t for the sake of temporary pleasure because it can occupy you in the wrong way and use up your energies on the wrong thing. You have a destination, a destiny! To achieve that destiny, you will need endurance and focus.
Jesus is our example of this. He pressed through the most difficult of circumstances and the most severe temptations for distraction, and He endured the cross. The joy of the promise of destiny was of greater value to Him than the trials and temptations of temporary comfort and convenience in that moment. He accomplished His purpose!
We are meant to draw inspiration from Him by looking unto Him and allowing Him to empower and comfort us in our moments of trial and difficulty. He sent us the Holy Spirit for this very reason.
Jesus made us new creations that the Holy Spirit can inhabit. We now live according to the Spirit with His empowerment. When we look to Jesus, we see Him as a man relying on the Holy Spirit’s supernatural help, enduring and pressing through every situation. His victory has become our victory. But we will not live in the realization and revelation of this marvelous privilege if we do not look to Jesus!
Looking at ourselves and what we bring to the moment is not helpful. While looking at others and what they brought to a similar situation might encourage us a little, it is not the source we need most. If we want to reach where God has called us, we must look to the right place and the right person.
I encourage you today to always be mindful of where, what, and who you are “Looking” to
