Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Scripture: John 1:14 - And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, [and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,] full of grace and truth.

When I was in Memphis, riding around with friends one rainy evening in 1979, I had no idea what was to come.  We were on break from classes, and I would have been content to see a movie, grab some pizza, and call it a day.  They had other plans, and so, not being the driver, I went where they went, which turned out to be U.T.- Memphis, on a different schedule and still in session.  With a few calls [no cell phones then], all the ingredients for a get-together fell in place, music, beverages, snacks, and a small gathering of strangers, available to become friends.  One particular friendship from that evening began, and proceeded in time especially well, with this pleasant, bubbly gal from Nashville named Debora Deaderick.  I couldn't keep my eyes off of her then, and still can't. [she's my wife, if you didn't know, of about thirty- seven years now]  Yep, I just couldn't take my eyes off of her!

What we see, can be highly influential, even transformative, which I think we can assume from John the Baptist's exclamation of "Behold" within the book of John chapter one.  "...we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father... full of grace and truth."  When we see something so commanding, all else pales in comparison, as the refrain from that dear hymn implies: "Turn your eyes upon Jesus.  Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace."

Unlike anything else though, really seeing Jesus not only prompts our now change, but our eternal change also.  And with the seeing, comes the following, as our hearts respond with"yes".

Prayer:  Day by day...  Day by day... Oh dear Lord, three things I pray:  To see Thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and to follow Thee more nearly, day by day.  Amen.

(by Dr. McNeal Brockington)