Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 141:5b-10
Ps 141:5b-10
Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers; 6 their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs, and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken. 7 They will say, “As one plows and breaks up the earth, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.” 8 But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD; in you I take refuge--do not give me over to death. 9 Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, from the traps set by evildoers. 10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.
Are our eyes fixed on the Lord? We are told to fix our eyes on Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith. But what does it mean to “fix our eyes” on the Lord and on Jesus? We have never even seen him and we will not see him with our physical eyes unless we are alive when he comes again.
Paul says we are to seek the things that are above where Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. So to fix our eyes on Jesus would mean that we set our hearts to be concerned about God, about spiritual things and as Jesus said, we seek his righteousness first in our lives. We are ever aware of eternity so that it guides our decisions and our behavior. On the other hand, we don’t allow the things of this world to crowd out the Lord and use all our time and all our energies. We learn to set our priorities based on pleasing the Lord and not on our personal pleasure or material gain. We never lose sight of our eternal goal.
Imagine for a moment the Apostle Paul as he was working with Pricilla and Aquilla making tents and someone wanted to talk to him about this Jesus he had been preaching. Do you think he would have told the person that he was too busy and come back later? Would he have allowed making a living to get in the way of being honest in his business dealing? Would he “cut corners” to be able to make a little more profit on his tents? We all know that his main goal was to share the good news with as many people as possible and making tents was just a means to that end and would not get in his way of reaching his goal. He had to make a living (just as we do today) but he did not get caught up in this world and the things of this world because his eyes were fixed on Jesus and on heaven.
O God, give me a pure heart and a determined spirit to be able to fix my eyes and keep them set on you, on Jesus and on the things above. Give me strength to be faithful to you in all things and to put you first in my life. Forgive me when I fail to do this. Thank you Lord for the opportunity to know you and to have you in my life. Help me share your good news with those around me both in word and by my example. Use me and what you have given me to help others live for you. Be with those who are sick and hurting. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
