When I first learned to drive I remember my dad’s advice: “Look past the hood ornament.” I was so annoyed at the time, “Ugh. I know, daaaaaad.” Now, with umpteen years of driving under my belt, I can appreciate that advice. The truth was that while I was beginning to drive, I saw very little of what was going on around me and my car – or as my grandma used to say, “That 2000-pound death trap on wheels.” (She took the bus and never learned to drive, but I digress.) The thing is, when we’re immature, we see very little around us. We see the instruments and gauges and have a sense of things but it’s all so hard to consider anything else other than what’s right in front of us. We see ourselves, how others will impact us, how we fit in or don't, etc. Our story is about us, and isn't our walk with the Lord a lot like that? When Jesus was crucified, the disciples not only lost sight of Jesus, they felt they had truly lost Jesus. Their immature eyes were fixed not on the tomb, waiting for His return, because they were too wrapped up in their own loss, completely missing the tremendous gain they were hours away from knowing. How different things would have been had they “looked past the hood ornament.” Had they understood that Jesus was their promised one, they could have been gathering everyone to be ready for His return. The author of Hebrews is coaching and exhorting us not to be immature but to, “Look past the hood ornament! See the great cloud of witnesses?” and then he goes even further to the biggest, best, greatest thing to see – Jesus! He asks, "You’re weary? You’re overwhelmed? Take your eyes off yourself and consider what Christ has done, what He endured, and for whom...us!" This is our hope today! Look past the hood and see Him – the author and perfecter of our faith and the one to whom all will ultimately consider when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. We must do the same today. Look to Him now. Consider Him now. It's not your story it's His and that makes all the difference. Fix our eyes on Him and endure.
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