To Be Like Jesus, I Need To Spend Time with Him

In review of the first part of Hebrews 12:2, I learn that to run the race with endurance, “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith” (NLT).

To run with endurance the race God has set before me, I need to keep my eyes on Jesus, the one who initiates and perfects my faith. This means that I must strip off the excess weight that slows me down. Choose friends who are also committed to the race. Make wise choices about the activities I get involved with. Give up whatever endangers my relationship with Him. To live effectively, I must spend time with him. I'll stumble if I look away from him to stare or focus on myself or at the circumstances that are surrounding me. Keep my eyes on Christ, not myself.

You’ve likely heard this old cliché: “You can’t soar with the eagles if you’re running with the turkeys.” This has great ramifications for my spiritual life.

I should invest less time in certain relationships because they’ll only drag me down. If I hang out with people who have no ambition, I’ll have no ambition. If I hang out with critical people, I’ll become critical. The people I spend the most time around will influence what I’m like on a day-to-day basis.

HIs Word tells me this about our spiritual growth: “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith” (Hebrews 12:2a NLT).

This is why it’s so important for me to spend time with Jesus every day. My spiritual growth depends upon it. I become more like Jesus when I spend time with him.

Jesus made a habit of going to a place where he could talk with his heavenly Father. Luke 22:39 describes him going to the Mount of Olives to pray “as usual” (NIV). If Jesus made it a point to spend time with his Father, this same habit will benefit me as well. It’s the only way I can really start to become more like him. Therefore I should continue to have some daily time with Him to talk about what’s going on in my life. To read his Word, to study a devotional, and then to ask for guidance and wisdom for the day. 

In summary, to be like Jesus I need to keep my eyes on him. For He is the champion who initiates and perfects my faith. I need to strip off the things that slow me down, choose friends who are committed to the same race. Learn to make wise choices about the activities I get involved with. Give up what endangers my relationship with him. If I look away from him and just focus on myself and my circumstances, I stumble. The people I spend the most time with will influence what I'm like on a day-to-day basis. Therefore It's important for me to spend time with Jesus every day. I'll become more like him when I spend time with him. 

Father I thank you for your Word and how you speak to me through it and through application notes and devotions. In my work life, things are changing. One of the priorities of the organization is to “challenge the status quo.” We get stuck in doing things a certain way because that's the way we have always done it or it’s someone else's job or role to do. It appears that our role and organizational structure will change. As things change, there are decisions that have been made that I or we have no way to change. The only thing I/we can do is to champion leadership’s desires. I / We need to do the best job we can, with excellence to make things occur to accomplish the organization's mission. I need to keep away from those who may be a bit negative in approach about it. This will only drag me down. I need to put into action the processes, plans and procedures I know will bring success. I need to take the focus off myself and any pity party about what I see that I don't like or feel like I haven't been treated with consideration. I need to schedule a one-on-one’s with leadership to get their perspective and to help champion what they would like to see.

I pray this morning Father for the perspective you have brought me to become part of my actions moving forward. I ask for your assistance to do the right things, like Jesus would. I ask you for wisdom and guidance for my day, my leadership and my interactions with others. These things I pray through your Son Jesus name, Amen.