Eyes fixed on Jesus will help you persevere

Did you make resolutions for 2013? Have you kept them? Over the years I have found that it is even easier to break my New Year’s resolutions than it is to make them.

I believe there is a reason for this truth. We often make promises to ourselves in areas of our lives where we struggle. Yes, we can resolve to do better, but past patterns and weakness can take over, and for many of us it does not take long to break the resolutions we made about new ways we intend to live beginning Jan. 1.

I made resolutions this year. Actually, the resolutions I made are a continuation of personal goals I set in the middle of last October. These goals were made specifically to help me do a better job living as a child of God, to help me do a better job as a husband and father and to help me do a better job as pastor of St. John. Why did I make the same resolutions or set the same goals as last October? First, the areas I hope to improve are important. I do not want to be satisfied with less than full effort in living as a child of God, in living as a husband and parent or in serving as pastor of St. John.

Secondly, there is another reason I made the same resolutions as the goals I set last October. I still have room to grow in these areas and need to work on them. No, I haven’t always been successful in doing what I planned to do. Yes, there have been instances of failure. But that doesn’t mean that because I failed once — or more — I am going to give up. I want to persevere in faithful living as a child of God.

So maybe my goal for the New Year is perseverance. In Hebrews 12:1-2, God tells us, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

It takes character and faith to continue seeking to do the will of God, especially if we have failed. But persevering is a godly virtue I hear little about these days. (You might also want to look at what God says about perseverance in Romans 5:3-5, 2 Thessalonians 1:4, James 1:3-4, and 2 Peter 1:3-8.) Perseverance is a mark of a child of God who is living a new life in Jesus.

The Hebrews verse gives us help in this life of perseverance. God tells us, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

When we fix our eyes on Jesus we can continue even after failure, because we know he endured the cross for us and forgives us. So, if I slip up, that is not the end. I can repent of my failure and live in the forgiveness God gives through the cross. Fixing my eyes on Jesus helps me persevere.

And, when we fix our eyes on Jesus we can continue even after failure, because we see the perseverance, sacrifice and love Jesus has for us. If Jesus can continue to love us even after we fail, we can continue to live for him even in our struggles.

]Have you kept your resolutions? If your resolutions were worth making as a child of God, they are worth continuing to work toward, even if you haven’t been successful so far.

“Therefore … let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”

Jonathan Rockey is pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer. Contact him at jonrock53@mtaonline.net.

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