Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;

For some unknown reason, when I started to read this passage, it brought me back to my childhood. We grew up with very modest means—in other words, we were pretty poor. As such, we made a lot of our own toys or found ways to amuse ourselves as kids.

One fond memory I have is that, for some reason, I noticed as a youngster that I had an amazing sense of balance. We would challenge each other to see who could walk the farthest along the railway tracks, balancing on top of the rail. It took some talent, and eventually, we added the element of speed—turning it into a sort of balance race, side by side, trying to stay up and be the fastest. The only rule was that you couldn't touch the ground in any way.

I learned that the trick was not to look down at the rail, but to look ahead toward the horizon—not too far away. You had to use your peripheral vision to see the rail without focusing directly on it. I was the undisputed champion for many years, as this talent seemed to come naturally to me.

It was only later in life, when I was learning to drive, that I realized this same principle applied. Like riding a bike, if you focus too much on what's directly in front of you, you start to wobble and weave—sometimes violently. But if you look farther ahead, you naturally smooth out and stay in a straight line.

This is the same principle that the writer of Hebrews (whom I believe to be Paul) emphasizes in this passage. If we look only at what's directly in front of us—micro-analyzing every little detail of our spiritual life—we can easily become confused and frustrated. Paul exhorts us to look ahead—to the horizon—and fix our eyes on the Lord.

If you're looking within your own flesh to find the wonderful qualities of the fruit of the Spirit, you'll never find them there. Paul realized through all his efforts to keep the law that in his flesh dwelt no good thing. Only in Christ did he find the peace that allowed him to bear fruit naturally for Him.

Like Peter, we will fall into the sea of problems when we take our eyes off the Lord and look at the chaos raging around us.

The old story goes that Fact, Faith, and Experience were walking along a narrow beam elevated off the ground. As long as Faith kept his eyes on Fact, who was ahead of him on the horizon, everything was peachy keen. But whenever Faith turned around to see how Experience was doing, both Faith and Experience would fall. Fact, however, was never affected—he kept moving forward, unwavering.

Fact is never moved or influenced because it is based solely on the absolute truth—Christ Jesus our Lord. As long as Faith keeps its eyes on Christ, it appropriates everything that is true of Him. But as soon as Faith turns around to check on Experience, it stumbles, disrupting both itself and Experience.

Hence the admonition: keep our eyes fixed on the Author and Finisher of our faith. If you focus on your own experience, you won’t find anything of eternal value. In fact, the Gospel clearly states that our flesh—our old nature—is so corrupted that only one remedy exists: it had to be crucified, done away with, rendered unemployed.

Now, through the Holy Spirit, we have the power to walk in newness of life, no longer as slaves to sin. There is only one catch: we must stay fixated on Jesus. Whatever is true of Him is true of you. When He died 2,000 years ago, you died in Him. A wonderful mystery—but factual nonetheless. And when He rose from the dead, so did you, becoming a new creation in Him!

The devil's only job is to keep you from seeing that fact with clarity. He will use any distraction or temptation to make you "feel" that this fact is not, in fact, factual.

Paul exhorts us to forget what lies behind. I don’t care how many times you’ve messed up in the past—it’s gone, and there’s nothing you can do about it except learn from it.

The only thing our wonderful Savior asks is that we keep our spiritual eyes focused on Him. Then we are changed from glory to glory, and from faith to faith.