“There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who think
they are sinners and the sinners who think they are righteous.”
— Blaise Pascal

Three young boys were tramping through a snow-covered forest when they came upon a clearing, where there was a man who made an offer to the boys:

Whichever boy could walk the straightest path across the clearing would receive a silver half-dollar.

The first boy started out slowly and very carefully looking around. He looked down to his feet, then backward, then forward, hoping to cross in a straight line. His path ended up crooked and off target. 

The second boy set out looking only at his feet, making sure they were straight and aligned with one another, stepping VERY carefully and slowly. His path, while reasonably on target, was also crooked and inconsistent.

The third boy bolted unhesitatingly and quickly across the clearing. His path was perfectly straight and on target.

When he received his prize, he was asked how he did it.

“Simple,” he said, “I just fixed my eyes on a tree on the other side of the clearing and walked toward it.”

This little story describes how many Christians conduct their Christian lives.

The following scripture passage from Hebrews 12:1-2 illustrates this:

“Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Our first two boys (above) were distracted with themselves and their bodily movements, and continuously lost sight of their goal across the clearing.

This illustrates the peril of not “… ridding ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us …” In the process, we lose sight of “Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith …” 

Distracted Christian lives are inconsistent, joyless, self-absorbed and, sadly, not much different from the worldlings around them. They have wandered away from their Savior, their only source of spiritual power.

Sound familiar?

Fixing Your Eyes on Jesus

Combat veterans will attest that when the shooting starts, you either focus or die.

Well, Christian, news flash! The shooting HAS started in the spiritual realm.

It is a raging, bloody war, and the bullets are real. To survive, you must focus upon your immutable Savior and hold to Him for dear life.

He IS your righteousness, as written in 2 Corinthians 5:21:

“He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (Jesus).”

This verse points to our total dependence upon Jesus and exposes the folly of self-righteousness. WE do not have a righteousness of our own before God.

Jesus’ righteousness was “imputed” or “reckoned” to our spiritual account, when we were born again — and it’s up to us to “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.”

He is the Author and Sustainer of our eternal lives, and we cannot function one spiritual millisecond without Him.

When we habitually become distracted by the cares and worries of life, losing sight of the Source of our power, we find ourselves falling back on our own “righteousness” (things like, religious devotion, avoidance of sin, living “clean,” being good, etc.).

There is nothing wrong with these things per se, but, like those first two boys in our story, we stumble around focused upon ourselves and lose sight of the goal, which is Jesus.

How About You?

Remember, the next time you are sensing even a whiff of self-righteousness, that it required God’s compassionate heart to be broken to save you from yourself.

Someone infinitely more righteous than you had to die a grisly, humiliating death in your place 2,000 years ago — God’s Lamb, Jesus.

All this, so that you could take your first authentically righteous spiritual breath (“you must be born again”) and then sustaining you breath-by-breath to the present day by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Why then would you allow yourself to fall into every Christian’s greatest peril — taking your eyes OFF Jesus?

Oh, Dear God, What Cost

Oh, dear Father,
What parental pain.
Why did you even bother?
We’re the ones who went insane.

Oh, dear Jesus,
What ghastly torment.
Why shed blood to free us?
We’re the ones with lives misspent.

Oh, dear Spirit,
What holy travail.
Why offer Jesus for OUR merit?
We’re the ones who belong in jail.

We don’t deserve a God like You,
We’re so proud — Impossible to subdue.
— D.C. Collier