Eyes on the Prize

The common understanding of this idiom is to “keep your focus on achieving a positive end result.” Before expanding on that idea, here are some fun facts about the eye.

• Your eye will focus on about 50 things per second.
• Your eyes contribute towards 85% of your total knowledge.
• Under the right conditions, the human eye can see the light of a candle at a distance of 14 miles.

In the natural world we must focus our attention for example on driving down the road without crashing, so the ability to see many things all at once is useful. It must be obvious that the other 15% of our knowledge is accrued through our other senses. It’s interesting the eyes assume the majority of the work. How crucial is our sight! How important it is to be careful what we put before our eyes! I find the last fun fact listed above the most relevant in charging us to keep our “eyes on the prize.” Jesus Christ is the Light upon which we must fix our gaze.

The repeated exhortation from the Lord in His Word is to keep our focus on Him. Yes, we live and breathe in this world, but “our [true] citizenship is in Heaven from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” (Philippians 3:20-21) Wow! That’s a mouthful, but so right on. Though now we are confined to the constraints of time, space and matter, making us susceptible to pain, and bound to age and die, the Creator of the universe will one day transform us to be like Him: translated and transfigured to live forever with Him in Heaven. (Matthew 17:2, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 1 John 3:2)

What a glorious day that will be. Yet when in the midst of a painful, physical trial it’s admittedly challenging to see the light of Christ. What man and medicine do to make us better alters the way our bodies look and work. Instead of focusing on the one clear goal of Christ, we’re apt to get distracted by the 50 things around us: the medical bills, isolation (because chemo cause susceptibility to infection), and concerns about cancer changing our vocation. I want to comfort the reader to be comforted as I have been, to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus “the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2) He is the only way to be sustained in times of want or in times of plenty.

When our spiritual eyes are fixed on the temporal we can easily become discouraged by wondering when the time of testing will be over. Focusing on the Creator, the One who spoke the world into existence and the same One who will one day call me home eases the burden and travail I experience. “Under the right conditions”, though the time I meet Him face to face may be still in the distance, I can see Him better than ever. The conditions I speak of are the trials themselves. Consider God’s servant Job. He endured much worse than I have ever known, but he never cursed God and continued the quest to find Him though hard pressed on every side. Job spoke directly to the Lord toward the end of his tumultuous battle saying, "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.” (Job 42:5) Awesome!

The purpose of this life is to grow in intimacy with the Lord. As we go deeper with Him we become more useful to others in pointing the way to Him. I’ll close with this great reminder. “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3: 12-14) Let’s encourage one another to keep our eyes on the prize!

 

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