Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

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Scripture: 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NRSV)

And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

Devotion:

            There is a hymn in our hymnbooks called Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. That hymn captures perfectly what Paul is trying to communicate to the church at Corinth in this scripture passage. We all must learn to contemplate who Jesus is and what His suffering and death on the cross mean for His people today. There is light and love in no other that compares with the light and love we see in the face of our Savior. Jesus Christ came to show us the way to everlasting life if we will but turn away from our newsfeeds and other social media activities to see Him as He is.

            In this age of smart phones and social media we more often have our faces lit up by the glow from our screens than the glow from contemplating Jesus. When we stop our fighting on twitter and be still and know God, we will start to be illuminated by the glow from Jesus wonderful face. There is no other activity that is so good for our souls as contemplating Jesus and what He has done for us.

            Think on this truth today that Jesus gave up His heavenly home to come to Earth and be hated, beaten, and crucified because He loved us so much. Even at 2,000 years distance from Jesus' life we still can be moved by what He did for us. If we are not moved, we need to stop and consider the health of our souls and our relationship with Jesus. We must not be like those at the church in Ephesus who had forgotten their love for Jesus as we read in Revelation 2:4-6.

            When we are truly contemplating Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection, and glorification the things of earth seem to fall away, and we like Moses in Exodus perceive the glory of the Lord. The more we contemplate Jesus’ life the more we become like Him in every respect. As Paul writes above, we are transformed into the image of Christ. We become an example of Christlikeness, and we can lead others to the source of our transformation. We become a living apologetic to the world. Let us truly turn our eyes toward Jesus and fix them upon His face.

Prayer:

            Lord, help us turn our eyes to your Son Jesus Christ. Let us look longingly into His face where we find love, mercy, and the fullness of grace. We know that Jesus is the true source of all light and joy. Lord, let us grow in the knowledge of Jesus. May we desire to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified. Help us to become all things to all people that we might be able lead some to eternal salvation in your holy name. Amen.

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