To What End, or The Road Itself

Is God the end we seek, or merely the ‘road’ which leads us to some other end?

I ask this in the context of mourning a loved one. We often think of our loved ones as with God, in His loving arms, awaiting us to join them in a glorious reunion. How wonderful is that thought! However, is that reunion our only goal?

We may be familiar with Jesus’ direction for us: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33. Jesus reminds us that God is the end that we must seek, and he will sort the rest out for us. We must always keep our eyes on Him. Interestingly, even when the disciples were looking for Jesus on Easter morning, the angel redirected (Matt 28:5) them simply because they weren’t truly focused on what God had in store for them. They were short-sighted; that is to say even when they were technically looking for Jesus they were not “seeking Him” or prepared to recognize their risen Savior and God’s true plan for them. Jesus had told them the plan time, and time, and time again leading up to his crucifixion and yet they still were distracted by self-absorbed thoughts and personal misconceptions. One of my favorite passages that drives home this point is this:

“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, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.“Hebrews 12:1-3.

Let’s break that one down a bit.

1. Surrounded by Witnesses. It causes me quite a bit of anxiety when I think that people read this blog, and therefore have an open  view of my inner-most thoughts and rantings. But it’s not much different from those friends, family, clients and strangers I am in contact with every day who interact with me. They watch me handle stressful situations, listen to me speak, and often take my advice on tough predicaments. I need to understand this fact – and it is a fact, regardless of what I would prefer – so I must conduct myself accordingly. This is especially true when little ones are watching (see my previous post “Watching You”).
2. Throw off and Run the Race. Deb and I recently viewed a fantastic short instructional video about how to do family devotions. A mom and dad led their children in a fun exercise to demonstrate how sin can hinder and weigh us down. First, the kids each ran a timed lap around the house. Then each ran another timed lap but this time with dad’s pants and coat and shoes on. The kids plodded and tripped along, and their lap times suffered greatly. The result showed that sin as well as distractions will entangle us and hinder our efforts to live the life God has planned for us. We need to shed those things. Keep in mind we need to do so not just for ourselves but also because others are watching and learning from us!
3. Fixing our Eyes on Jesus. Another translation says “looking to Jesus” and another says “keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus”. The point is clear here that we are to hone in on Him with laser-like focus and not waver or divert our attention.  The image of a highly trained bird-dog in the field comes to mind when I think of this, pointing his nose in the tall grass for the benefit of his hunting owner. Skilled dogs cannot be distracted or swayed, and will stand still and focused for what can seem like an eternity until released by its owner. Imagine having that ability to fix our own eyes on Jesus to the exclusion of all else.

So what does this all mean for us in the context of Jacob and his impact on our lives? This is where things get tough, but shouldn’t. It certainly is not wrong to live the good life of a faithful Christian with your heart set on the idea that one day you will be reunited with loved ones.  But is that the goal in and of itself? Am I tempted to run this race of faith and, dare I say it, put on a good show for the witnesses just for the primary purpose of this reunion? How much better and stronger and deeper is faith in Christ that we seek Him regardless of the reunion with our loved ones. Can you imagine?

I boldly admit to you that I have not reached that point just yet where I have committed quite that much focus on Jesus. But I can’t ignore this personal appeal from Him – and it is truly, deeply personal – to focus on Him and Him alone. I can only assume that we will get to the point in our journey of faith that our focus on Jesus allows Him to address all of these other things in our lives for our benefit. We cannot allow our desire for the reunion with our loved ones to be our focus – to the potential detriment of our soul and thus the detriment of our reunion! On the contrary, if we fix our eyes on Jesus, and leave the rest to Him, we must have the confidence that He, who has promised to make all things new, will sort it all out for us. In this, we gain both Him and our loved ones.

And so is God the end we seek, or merely the road we use to reach another end – that being a reunion with our loved ones? Let’s stay fixed on Him, take Him at His word, and find just how wonderful the result will be.