Hebrews 12:1-2
Hannah hates to clean her room. And, boy, she can sure mess it up. It's unbelievable. We've been trying to enforce some new rules, but it is really a fight. We have been planning for her friend Claire to spend the night last night--one last little brewhaha before school starts this week. On Friday, however, her room was such a mess that we had to lay down the law: Claire's not spending the night unless your room gets cleaned, and we're not cleaning it.
All day Saturday she made excuses and messed around and never cleaned her room. We told her, "Claire's not coming over!" "I'll clean tomorrow after church," she replied.
Finally, at about three o'clock on Sunday, she finally started cleaning and in a mad dash got that huge pile of tornado aftermath picked up. She didn't clean it because she wanted to clean. The only thing that can explain why she actually got her room picked up is that she had her sights set on Claire spending the night. Claire coming over defined her motivation.
What defines your motivation for life? Why do you do what you do?
Why did Jesus do what He did? He had His eyes set on "the joy that was before Him." Jesus was not defined by the here and now, but His eyes were set on glory.
Our passage tells us that we are to look to Him. He is our model. As Jesus lived not for the day but for the Great Tomorrow, we, too, must learn to live with eternal perspective. We must not live for the here and now, but with our eyes set on glory. What must define our actions today cannot be the comforts and rewards of this earth but the heavenly treasures being stored up for enjoyment at a later date.
What are you living for? To make another buck? To buy a bigger house? A newer car? More stylish clothes? A job promotion? Or for the joint inheritance of glory with Jesus?
