Keeping our eyes on the road and keeping our eyes upon Jesus have a lot in common.
Most accidents are caused by distractions to the driver inside, not outside, of the car. According to a study released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), “80 percent of automobile accidents and 65 percent of near-accidents involve at least some form of driver distraction within three seconds of the crash or near-miss.”
Some of the most common distractions are: talking on a cell phone, texting, reaching for a moving object or a child inside the car, applying makeup, eating or drinking, reading a map or the navigation screen. All drive our attention away from what is essential … keeping our eyes on the road to arrive safely.
As Christians, keeping our eyes upon Jesus is what is essential, for he is “the way, the truth and the life.” (John 14:6) Like the driver, our eyes are easily drawn away from Jesus by internal distractions, such as greed, addictions to drugs, alcohol, pornography, gambling and other amoral behavior. But excessive attention to those things that are, in themselves, good or morally neutral can also distract our eyes from Jesus. If our work, our hobby, a good cause or even our devotion to sports, or to another activity or person becomes the most important thing in our life, we have made it our god and our eyes are no longer on Jesus.
We are easily driven by self-gratification believing it will bring the happiness that we crave. Philosopher Blaise Pascal addressed this in his classic book, Pensees. “What else does this craving and this helplessness proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself” (148/428).
Keep your eyes upon Jesus, the only true road to the Father.
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Image Credit: Leo Reynolds on Flickr
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