Looking Unto
I hope the title captured your curiosity. I own and ride a 1997 Police Edition Harley-Davidson Road King 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 for turning 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 a serious and dangerous practice that has led to numerous 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 always look in the right direction. 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.
We're being told not to get distracted by things for the sake of temporary pleasure, because it can occupy us in the wrong way and use up our energies on the wrong thing. We have a destination, a destiny! To achieve that destiny, we 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. 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, empowered by Him. 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 aren't looking unto Jesus!
Looking at ourselves for what we can bring to the moment is not helpful. Looking at others and what they brought to a similar situation might encourage us a little, but 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 Unto.”
