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Lift Up Your Eyes - 3.3.2024 Bulletin
Lift Up Your Eyes
In Ezekiel 1.1 the text reads, “In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God” (ESV). The book of Ezekiel can almost be considered the Revelation of the Old Testament because of similarities in the nature of the text and the situation in which it is written. The opening verse says the “heavens were opened” and Ezekiel saw “visions of God.” We often associate heaven with being upward. Those things which are worth seeing, can only be seen when one lifts their eyes and looks toward heaven. Ezekiel prophesied during the Babylonian captivity. Had he kept his eyes on the situation around him it would have been easy to become discouraged and disheartened. It is no different for us today, while we are not a prophet of God, receiving God’s word as Ezekiel did, we too can easily become discouraged by looking down, focusing only on the troubles on earth going on all round us. Instead, the child of God is admonished to lift up their eyes toward heaven and focus on the spiritual, the good things worth being seen.
Paul in Colossians 3.1-2 admonishes his readers to “seek the things what are above, where Christ is” and to “set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” The goal for which all Christians strive for is heaven. To achieve our long-term goal, we must give thought daily to laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven. Earthly cares and earthly possessions will one day pass away, but the treasures we store up in heaven will last forever. Matthew writes “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (6.19). Whatever we make our priorities that is where our heart is going to be. This being the case, then we need to set our mind, our vision, to the heavenly. What we become discouraged by looking down and around us, are only momentary, they won’t last. We need to have the spiritual vision to see beyond the earthly and look toward the eternal. “As we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4.18). Lifting our eyes towards heaven will keep us from looking at the vain and worthless things in this life. “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways” (Psalm 119.37).
A mind set on seeing the spiritual or heavenly can only do so by lifting their eyes. What are some of the things we can only see by lifting our eyes toward heaven? To begin, it’s the only way to see what God has done for us. We must lift our eyes to see the cross, the avenue of the salvation of mankind. Jesus said in John 3.14-15, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” Christ was put to death on the cross for all to see. But it was through His death that any who look to Him for salvation can find it. It’s also the only way to see the blessings God gives. God is the provider and source of all things good, “very good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1.17). We must look to God and be thankful for all the good, and the ways He has blessed us. We can’t do that by looking down.
We must lift our eyes to be able to see the other people who need Jesus. In John 4.35b, Jesus talking to His disciples said, “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.” Similarly in Luke 10.2, at the sending out of the seventy-two, Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Jesus knew there was work to be done in saving the lost. Relative to the number of lost, the laborers, those who bring the good news is small. There is much work to do when it comes to saving the lost, it falls on us to do our part. When we look down, we will miss opportunities to seek and save the lost.
Finally, we must lift our eyes to see the way we need to go to get to heaven. There is one path that leads to salvation, it’s the way God set forth. Mankind must change their life to fit God’s way, not the other way around. Proverbs 14.12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” For man to try and carve their own path when God has made the way that leads to salvation is foolish. Ephesians 4.4-5 says there is “one hope” and “one Lord.” Hope is described as the “anchor of the soul” in Hebrews 6.19. This hope is rooted in the promises of God, who cannot lie. One Lord, mean there is one authority. God has given Christ authority, and speaks through Him, so Christ is the one we listen to (Hebrews 1.1-2). These two “ones” allow no room for anything else. If we want to find salvation, we will lift our eyes towards God’s way.
Philippians 3.20 says, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” While we live on earth with its troubles, cares and concerns, our ultimate citizenship is in heaven. If that is our goal, we will not get there by look down and getting wrapped up in the things of earth. Instead, we will keep our eyes lifted looking toward the spiritual and the heavenly.
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