Life is supposed to be lived with your eyes front. Looking forward to what lies ahead of you. But do we live this way or is it just a fond saying that we hear or maybe learn at some point in our life? Eyes front! is a command that I remember hearing in basic training a few decades ago. So what does it mean to us today?
The better part of it is that we shouldn’t be looking behind us and we should be making plans for the life that is ahead of us. The present, which is today, is something that we can’t plan for because we got up this morning living in it. The “present” is today and it should be used as a way or a pathway to get to our future…tomorrow.
Jesus said: 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Look toward tomorrow but do not fret about it. Keep your eyes on the work that Jesus has given you to do and the days will take care of themselves.
With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord : teach me thy statutes.
Psalms 119:10-12 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.119.10-12.KJV
This bit of wisdom comes from the longest Psalm in God’s Word, but it is very true. Seek your wisdom from the Lord and He will bless you in ways that you cannot imagine. I pray that this touches all who read this today.
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:11 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/php.2.11.KJV
When Jesus returns, all people will confess that He is Lord.
A true friend is usually closer than a brother. Because most of us will tell a friend our troubles in intimate details that we wouldn’t share with anyone else. That’s how you can know if the friendship is real and true.
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Matthew 6:7-8 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/mat.6.7-8.KJV
God knows what you need but He enjoys hearing from you as well. Ask Him for your needs, tell Him your problems, look at His creation around you and know that He is in control.
When I stumble or sin intentionally, tell me what I’m doing that is wrong in God’s eyes so He and I can get it fixed. Don’t go along with me by following my behavior, let me know that I need to make it right with God.
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
Luke 11:13 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/luk.11.13.KJV
Most believers and the churches that they attend know or think they know “what they believe” and “how to tell others about their belief in Jesus”. In many ways, the pastors of those churches feel that they know these things as well. Some do know these fundamental beliefs of the church and they preach them from God’s Word. But do you know why you should study God’s Word? Do you know why you should tell others in your family and those who live nearby about your Savior?
Is there a reason why we should tell others about Jesus? Why do we come to church?
Telling others about our Savior throws a lifeline to them so that they can know their Savior and escape an eternity in hell. Why do we come to church? Because the Bible says, “forsake not the assembling of the brethren or believers”. We are strengthened in our Spirit when we worship Jesus together. We learn more about our Savior and how to be His disciples when we meet together and study the Bible about His work. We learn about who we are to take this good news, the gospel, to every tribe and nation and tongue, whether it is across the ocean or the street.
But…do we take this good news even to our own family? The “why” of the gospel is simple, maybe too simple, and it is love. God loved us and still loves us so deeply that He sent Jesus to live and die for our sins, no matter how big or small our sins may seem to be to us. The sins that we commit each day in our thoughts and in our speech and with our eyes tend to make a mockery of our claim of being a Christian. We don’t take our faith and our walk with Jesus by our side seriously. Sometimes we rarely think about Him at all outside of the church. It’s almost like when we were young and we would go to visit our grandmother or an aunt that we only see once or twice a year.
We would be told in very stern words to be on our best behavior while we are there. The problem with this kind of thinking and living as Christians is that unlike our grandmother or our aunt, God knows what we think and say even if we don’t say it in church. He knows about your sins regardless of their perceived size because to a holy God…every sin is the same. It is our rebellion against Him and His commandments. That is hard for us to understand because we categorize sins as big or little, white or black. To God, telling your Mom that you didn’t eat the cookie when you did is the same as killing your brother or someone in anger. They don’t seem to be the same to us, but to God, a sin is a sin…period.
Your life and mine are an open book to God. He can turn the days back and see the day you were born and He can look ahead to the day you will die or to the day that we will be taken up to heaven. He knows you and me far better and more completely than our family does. So answer this question in your mind: do you know why you are important to God? It is a simple answer but it is one that we rarely believe or understand because it is too simple.
The reason that we are important to God is LOVE.
Plain, simple, and boring…but from His perspective, it is the most important reason of all! Why is love so bland and boring to us? Because we have used the word for so many things which are not actually “love” until we have tarnished its meaning and weakened its importance. For some people, the expression of love can be done in ways that others would find obsessive or offensive. Then there are times when we say, “I love that show!” or “I love shrimp!”
We use the word “love” in ways and for the expression of feelings that really have no resemblance to love at all. At least not the type of love that God has for us and for all of His Creation. We have stretched it and turned it into a word with little meaning at all because we use it so much. But…God’s Love for us is overflowing with meaning and purpose and it’s alive just like His Word in the Bible. It inspires you and it burns within you and it compels you to do things that you wouldn’t normally do like get in front of a group of people and speak for almost thirty minutes!
Love is the reason for everything that God made. Especially when it comes to His feelings for you and me. God’s love came to Earth so that we could come to heaven. He came to pay for our mistakes so we wouldn’t have to pay the penalty ourselves.
Our world is paying the price for pushing God out of the schools and our government too. Not only are we paying for our ignorance but the rest of the world has been put on notice for the same iniquity. Some people may wonder exactly who is doing this? It is our Creator, God. God is in charge of the universe and everything in it, especially our lives. We may not acknowledge Him for it, but you breathe in and out and your heart beats because He wills it so. Does He control us or you like an automaton? Of course not! He created us to love Him and serve Him because we want to not because of instinct or because we have to. Love can’t be forced on anyone.
So why do we push Him away from our lives? In today’s culture it is because we want our lives and the truth that we use on a daily basis to be more fluid and flexible. God’s Truth is not flexible. That is the major reason that most of the world’s religions have no absolute truth in their holy words. God’s Word is the absolute Truth because it came from Him by the Holy Spirit Who inspired the writers of the Old Testament and the New Testament to write it as His Word because it actually IS HIS WORD!
In the book of John it begins at the beginning: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God“. Then, when Jesus came to Earth to live with His creation He was and is the Word become flesh. Believing in Him for your salvation because He is the only way to salvation is the Truth that many don’t want to listen to or believe but if they don’t…if you don’t believe in Jesus the Christ for your salvation then you will pay an eternal price because of it. Make your most important decision while you still can in this life because after your life is over, there is no way to change your choice. No choice is a choice.