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. (Hebrews 12:2 NKJV)

For no apparent reason, Iva, my guide dog, stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. The strip mall remained quiet with only a few shoppers. We had been strolling back and forth from one end of the sidewalk to the other in order to get some extra steps in for the day.

“No, Iva, forward!”

She continued, but Iva stopped again on our way back down. Then she led me to the door.

“No, we don’t need to go in.”

Up and down the sidewalk, Iva seemed enthralled with this store. As I coaxed her to move forward, my husband opened the door and came out of the store laughing. Iva had spotted her daddy through the window, and she wanted to take me to him. Even the sales person had asked my husband if that dog knew him because of her fixed stares.

Focusing on anything but the sidewalk in front of us makes for unsafe guide work, but I had to laugh at my silly Iva.

Our world offers us lots of distractions, and most of them aren’t good. war, Covid, inflation, and crime top the list. Don’t you tire of all the doom and gloom? It can bring the most joyful person down, but our verse today helps us readjust our focus.

We must remove our eyes from the world, and look straight into the eyes of Jesus. Let’s dig into this treasured verse and discover how we can keep our eyes locked on Jesus. The word looking can be translated fix. That’s how Iva stared into the store windows. She didn’t glance. When she saw her daddy, she fixed her stare on him. Many times, we fix our eyes on Jesus as we read the Word and pray. When we go about our daily tasks, we fix our eyes on other things.

Understanding the Greek meaning of the words author and finisher will help us grasp this concept. Replace these words with originator and perfector. Our faith begins with Christ, and He will bring it to fruition. Jesus will bring our faith to perfect completion.

As you go through your day in these daunting times, think of a black lab who can’t remove her eyes from her father. Then place your eyes on your Father. We must choose whether to stare at the trials or Jesus. What will you choose today?

Originally posted on March 28, 2022 @ 3:00 am