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As I was cycling the other day, I caught myself drifting when I lost focus of what was ahead of me. I slowed down and drifted to the side. I ran into potholes that caught me off guard. I narrowly missed debris on the side of the road and even hit some. These roads that I ride on outside of Houston have a wide shoulder perfect for cyclists. But they also have cars flying by, roadkill, bumps, potholes, gravel, and car debris that all can have a big impact on your ride and safety. Losing focus on a ride can be really detrimental. You get a flat tire when you run over that broken glass. You drift too close to the lane where a car is coming. You lose the group you are riding with. You have a wreck because you hit a hole or piece of debris. You miss the beauty of the country ahead of you full of wildflowers, sunshine, trees, rolling hills, horses and cattle. When you lose focus of what’s ahead, a lot can happen.
That led me to thinking about how we are called to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Hebrews 12:1-2 reads, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” When we take our eyes off of Jesus, we drift off into potholes of worry. We get a cut so deep that stops us in our tracks. We don’t know if we want to continue following Jesus or just try to figure it out on our own. We slow down on the path towards Jesus, missing opportunities to share His love. We don’t see the beauty that’s right in front of us. The beauty that God reveals to us every day even in the midst of the hardest season of our lives. We drift off to a group of people who lead us away from God. We get entangled with the worries of life and fall away from Jesus. When we lose focus of Jesus, a lot can happen.
So what if we chose to always keep our eyes fixed on Jesus? We would be full of so much joy! We would love others well. We would see Him everywhere and trust what He is doing.
