A remedy for spiritual fatigue and discouragement.
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 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 is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2
In the book of Hebrews, the writer reminds us of the need for putting away “every sin,” and every other thing that becomes a hindrance to running the race of faith. He then follows this with a formula on how exactly we may do that. He notes: by “looking unto Jesus.”
This act of “looking”, must not be misunderstood to mean looking in the literal sense, as in staring at an image of Jesus; rather to “look unto Jesus” is a reference to spending time in deeply contemplating on Him. The same way we “look back” to past experiences or we “look forward” to the future, the imagination must grasp the idea of the personhood of Jesus Christ and all that it entails. This is what the writer of Hebrews stresses as the key formula to putting away all sin. This is why the writer then follows with saying:
“Consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds” verse 3
God seems to find it necessary to constantly remind His people to focus their attention on Him, to “keep their eyes on the road” so to say. When Christians do this, the promised result is an escape from being “weary and faint” in the Christian journey. This is why, from generation to generation, God calls His people to fix their focus on Him.
“Behold the Lamb of God, [(said John the Baptist)] which takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29
“Behold,” we are told, feast your eyes and pay careful attention to the fact that Jesus is the Lamb of God who can take away your sins. This act of “beholding” is what will result in our sins being taken away. It must be noted that, when John said these words, some people already knew about Jesus. But they knew Him only as the carpenter’s son. Until this point, none had paid attention to Him as “the Lamb of God”; they did not consider Him as being the one who came to remove their sins.
Knowing Him only as the poor man from Nazareth, many did not consider Jesus as anything more than what they knew of Him. They didn’t “behold” Him as they should and as a result, their sins were not taken away. This is why many are still in their sins, it is the result of not considering Jesus for who He really; not letting the mind dwell on the reality that He is the Lamb of God that can take away one’s own sins!
But there is more to “beholding.”
In the book of Hebrews, the writer continues to stress the quality of how we must “look unto Jesus” and consider Him.” He emphasises the extents to which we must “behold the Lamb of God,” and the results thereof:
“Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.“ Hebrews 12:15
As important as it is to “look unto Jesus,” it is just as important to look diligently. Looking to Jesus is not meant to be an occasional, casual and haphazard thing. It is to consider Him diligently, as our safest hope of deliverance from sin; in the same way the Israelites in the wilderness had to look at the bronze serpent set on the pole as their only way of escape from the poisonous bites of the desert snakes (See Numbers 21:5-9). “Look,” Paul says, and look diligently, persistently, intentionally, without distraction.
Notice the reasons which are given to for “looking diligently.”
1. “Lest anyone fall short of the grace of God” (Hebrews 12:15a NKJV)
It is very possible for someone who has experienced the grace of God to still fall short of maintaining that experience and fall back into the old life of sin. How? When one is not looking diligently unto Jesus.
The reason why some believers draw back to a life of sin is due to letting the attention be turned away from diligently considering Jesus. The attention may be diverted by the stress and cares of this life, by focusing on our own unworthiness, the shortcomings of others or to anything other than Jesus Himself.
But we must realise the fact that: the safest thing that will keep a person from falling back into sin, and falling short of the grace of God, is to earnestly focus the mind on Christ, the one who is the Author and Finisher of our faith.
2. “Lest any root of bitterness, springing up, cause trouble.” (Hebrews 12:15b NKJV)
The second reason we are to “look diligently” is because that will prevent us from experiencing roots of bitterness in our hearts. The cause of bitterness in the heart, the cause of hostility and animosity among believers, lies in this: not looking diligently unto Jesus. The unkind attitudes and opinions professed Christians have, even towards fellow believers, the evil surmising that lies deep in the heart as a root, is evidence of not looking unto Jesus diligently. Personal experience has also shown this to be true.
We may consider that having bitterness in the heart (as a result of not looking unto Jesus) is more dangerous than only “falling from the grace of Christ.” This is because when a root of bitterness springs up in a believers heart it has the capacity to “trouble” the church and, as the writer continues to note, “thereby, many be defiled.” (Heb. 12:15).
As with most things, keeping the mind fixed on the end result is crucial in succeeding. This is true in succeeding in the Christian race as well, and Jesus gives us an example of this. As the Author and Finisher of our faith, Jesus “for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross.” Jesus was pushed enough to endure the pain of the cross because of what He was looking forward to: the goal of seeing each of us delivered from our sins and experiencing salvation.
This principle is what God has given to keep us from becoming “weary and faint” in running the uphill race of Christian experience. As we “look unto Jesus”, as we keep our eyes on the road, every weight that holds us back from the full experience of salvation will be laid aside. It is here that Jesus would have us place our focus, “looking diligently” on Him, rather than on the weights and sins which easily beset us.
As we navigate the realities of living in a sinful world, many things strive for our main attention, and the list too endless to mention. This is why there is a desperate need for every child of God to look unto Jesus. Because of how easy it is to get distracted in our focus, there is an even more desperate need to “look diligently.”” It is as we as behold Jesus as “the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world,” and as we do so with persistence, that we keep ourselves from growing tired and discouraged in our Christian experience.
To the one who may be growing weary in their race, to the one who —having run the race of faith for a long time — is getting weary in their journey, the encouragement is to keep our eyes on the road and focus our attention back on the One who is in charge of the responsibility to take away our sins.
“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.“ Isaiah 45:22
