What Will Your Eyes See?

I will lift up mine eyes to the hills –from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Ps 121:1-2

What a wonderful statement of Christian faith! It gives me profound hope to know that during times of confusion and despair, all we need to do is raise our weary eyes to the hills and He will be there to comfort us with outstretched arms.

His outstretched arms. I can’t help but think about the point of Christ’s Passion. Mel Gibson’s movie had raised much controversy throughout the world. I had heard mixed reviews and comments regarding the information presented in the film. It had been called anti-Semitic and violent. Historical scholars analyzed the film to pieces and tried, as academia always does, to deny everything Jesus did in his all-too-brief lifetime. What point is all this leading to? Sometimes as mere human beings we get so caught up in little details of something that we fail to see the big picture. It’s all too easy to do.

The blood that was shed on Calvary was indeed shed for each and every one of us. We must look deep into Christ’s eyes and feel, through His pain, the tremendous love He showed us with his outstretched arms. To focus on the beauty of the Passion, the reason why it occurred in the first place, is to understand the point of it. For someone to go through what Christ did and still have the strength to love us, the passion to die for our sins, is pretty remarkable. The depth of His love for us knows no bounds, and I think His Passion is proof of that. What a tremendous gift for a fallen humanity to receive.

As Christians, we need to challenge each other to keep our minds free of the little details that clutter our minds. Only when we do this are we able to give back to the Lord what He so freely gave us to us. The next time you lift up your eyes to the hill, to Calvary, ponder the mystery of his outstretched arms and remember what He gave to you – His undying love. By opening our minds to the point, we, as a church, can open our ministry to the possibilities this point brings.

*Dear gracious Father in heaven, we thank you for giving your son to us. Help us to open up to the wonderful possibilities new ministries can bring to our church. In your name we pray, Amen.