LOOKING TO JESUS
Psalms 121:1-4 I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip - he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
Before the Hebrews ever went into their Promised Land, the Lord told them that they were to tear down the high places and destroy their idols. But sad to say it wasn’t until the rule of King Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 31:1 that we see that they were tore down. King after king refused to do as the Lord had commanded them, and in turn Israel would look to those high places and worship idols. Even though the Lord had done so many miracles for them and blessed them so richly, they still turned from the Lord. Even King David that loved the Lord so much had an idol in his house. It is no wonder that he had so much trouble. The influence of the powers of darkness will always leave their mark, and it is not an easy one to get rid of.
While here in America we don’t have high places where idol worship is being done regularly and in the open, there are still many high places. In fact there are many places of worship that a person would never think of them as high places of idol worship. There are gods of all kinds in all area of life right here in the United States. A god is something that a person looks to for help, support, blessing, protection and so on. Our god may be as close as the person we sleep next to every night. We can cling to a husband or wife and even children as if our life is fixed on them. It can be our work, money, activities and even our church. Many people attend church every week for what they get out of it, rather than it being a focus pointing to Jesus. Lifting our eyes to anything but Jesus is wrong and will draw us away from him. Jesus must be the focal point of our life and worship. There is nothing wrong with all the other things in life that might be enjoyable, but there is only one we can lift our eyes to.
Is there a high place in our life that is drawing you away from Jesus? If there is you need to get a better perspective, a better focus in your life. Just last night at a presidential debate they were saying that by 2030 Social Security and Medicare will be in danger. They wanted the candidates to tell them what they had in mind to help the problem. Neither said to put your faith and hope in Jesus. Maybe they were afraid they might lose votes or be laughed at, but it would have been the right answer. Only in our looking to Jesus can we be assured of the future. Leaving the high places in your life for security will only cause you to keep trusting and looking to them. Jesus will never fail you.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we are living in strange times as we quickly approach your return. Please help us to keep focused on you, always trusting you to be there for us. Thank you for saying that you would never leave or forsake us. We love you Jesus.
