John 6:40

     For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life

     Remember that little song, “o be careful little eyes what you see, for the father up above is looking down with love o be careful little eyes what you see”. I remember liking the songs and being afraid of it too. What if I look at the wrong thing! It kind of turns Jesus into a divine Santa Clause image “you better watch out you better not cry…” as if God is just waiting for us to mess up and crush us with his cosmic thumb of judgment.

      Now, I’ve no doubt that God does see what we do and there are things he’d prefer we be careful with and not do, but we need to caution ourselves and our image of God and not make him some warden of cell block 5 always trying to keep us in line. No, God hasn’t sent his Son to manage our behavior, but to change our heart.

     The best way to change behavior is to change the heart. How, then, is the heart to be changed? By gazing upon Jesus. Jesus says that everyone who looks upon the Son and believes will have eternal life. To gaze upon Christ is life. To look away is death. You see, we cannot gaze on Jesus and be full of the self, we will either look away or his love will change our life. To look upon the face of God we choose to die so that we can live.

      How? We cannot lust after the things of this world and look at Christ, we cannot look at gluttony or malice and behold his face, we cannot entertain pride, arrogance, selfishness, and bitterness and look upon the face of God.

     It’s not a matter of closing one’s eye to the world, but instead of looking at an object as belonging to you or solely for your pleasure, be it inanimate or another person, you begin looking at them while looking at Jesus. 

     In this series, Treasures of the Transformed Life, we are looking at different practices that help us to gaze upon the face of God and stand in his grace. Praying, attending to corporate worship, being generous and sacrificial with our giving, serving others beyond our comfort, are not simply ways for us to build a denominational church structure, but are designed in a way to recalibrate our gaze, to change how we look at our calendar, our wallet, and our watch. When we practice the disciplines of the faith, we are practicing how we look at Jesus. Looking at Jesus changes how we see God and see one another.

     When we gaze upon Jesus, we begin to behold the beauty of God, we begin to see creation, including our family, neighbors, and even enemies as Jesus sees them and we begin to live in the life that only can be found in the creator of life. To gaze upon Jesus is to gaze on his love that is already at work in the environment you are in.

     What practices can you do to turn your eyes upon Jesus?

Peace and Blessings,

Pastor Cory Britt