Hebrews 12:1-2. Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Matthew 14:25-31. And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ” Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Proverbs 18:10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.
1 Corinthians 9:24. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize?
From the very instant that we turned to God from our hopeless and sinful state, the Spirit of the Living God joined Himself forever with our human spirit and we entered ‘the race that is set before us’. For the first time, as we fixed ‘our eyes on Jesus’, He became to us ‘the author…. of faith’.
During the time Jesus dwelt among us He ran the race His Father gave Him to run. Knowing only the joy that was set before Him, He ‘endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God’. His race had been won. ‘For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father’. Philippians 2:9-11. What a Victor! What a victory!
The well-known account of Peter seeking to emulate Jesus by walking on the water illustrates for us the vital necessity of ‘fixing our eyes on Jesus’. We read ‘And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. Yes, ‘Peter walked on the water’. But when his gaze left Jesus Peter began to sink. Then, however, ‘he cried out, “Lord, save me!” and once again he ‘walked on the water’; this time with Jesus. Peter had found out the truth of Proverbs 18:10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.
How very sad it is that great numbers, who start their race full of joy and resolution, fail to finish the race set before them. How easy it is to listen to the wind and fear the waves and start to sink. Our gaze will either be upon Jesus or it will get deflected to Satan’s distractions. The evil one cares not whether the distraction is a devotedly religious life or a worldly hedonistic fling. If Jesus is not our focus we will be powerless against the devil and his wiles.
Those described in Revelation 12:1-11 as composing the male child are the ones, who through patient endurance have finished their race; ‘fixing their eyes on Jesus’. These are the ones whom Satan has feared as they were running and even more when they finished their race. He well knows now that his time is short. When the number of these overcoming ones is complete according to God’s timing, Satan will forever be cast down out of heaven and be on his inevitable way to the bottomless pit of Hell ‘prepared for the devil and his angels’.
The Lord Jesus is not only the author but He is also the ‘perfecter of faith’. We will only cross the finishing line as victors and overcomers by keeping our eyes constantly fixed upon Him. Should we fail or fall along our way we know what to cry out, “Lord, save me!” and instantly He will restore us. We shall surely win ‘the race set before us’ by ‘fixing our eyes on Jesus’ yet, although we may share in His victory, we must always bear in mind that ‘Only one receives the prize’ and that One is Jesus, and we in Him.
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