A couple of weeks ago I went to Las Vegas on business. I don’t particularly like Vegas but I try to make the most of it while I am there. One thing I do enjoy about Vegas is getting up at day break and running the strip. I run for 60 minutes every day while I am there and it is amazing what I see. Most of the people “up” at that time of day are either running like me, or have yet been to bed from the previous night.
Of the ones who look as though they’ve not been to bed yet; they have a certain “look” on their faces. That “look” often falls into two categories a look of “what did I just do?” and/or a look of “I’ve got to get a fix.” The “look” is a very shallow, blank, desperate stare into space. I know about the “look” because I’ve seen pictures of myself back in my using days and I had the “look” and although it is a look I am not proud of; the “look” reminds me of where I was and how far I’ve come.
Trouble is I see this “look” these days in more places than Vegas. The world and especially our country is at an all time high of people with that “look.” For some this “look” has been brought on by the sudden loss of their job, for others it is brought on by being overextended in finances. I see the “look” on the faces of those who are cheating, lying, stealing, gossiping and criticizing. I always see the “look” on the faces of those who are dependent upon other people, places and things for happiness. The “look” is a “look” that is of the world and not of God. I found out a long time ago that happiness gained from the world is always temporary it is never forever and at some point the world lets us down.
It is so refreshing for me to get around true followers of Christ. They also have a “look.” It is a look of peace, a look of freshness a look of sureness. It is a deep look of faith. The look very seldom goes away no matter what is going on in the world around them. The reason for the different “look” for Christ followers, is because we’ve found what all of God’s children are born looking for and that is a relationship with God and the freedom from the bondage of sin that Christ’s death and resurrection blesses us with.
But….just because we’ve found God and accepted Jesus does not mean we can’t lose it and we lose it as soon as we start “looking” for our happiness from the world. That is why Solomons reminds us in Proverbs 4:25 “Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.” One of the reasons I start my day in the word and in prayer is to protect me from myself and my desire to be of the world before I am ever tempted. Prayer throughout the day also assures that my eyes are looking straight ahead and not wandering into the world.
No one says it better than John in the first book of John “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15) …“for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:4-5).
The “look” can be summed up as being a look of life or a look of death. The look of death comes from the world and the devil and the look of life comes from Jesus and eternal life…“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:12).
Take a look in the mirror and ask yourself “is my look a look of life or is it a look of death?” It is our choice whether or not we choose life or death because it is our choice whether or not we choose Jesus. Take the easier softer way, give up the short term fixes the world will give you for the eternal high Christ will give you. Give up the world and choose life, one day at a time.
P.E.A.C.E.