Hebrews 12:1-3 — 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
So what stands to be our greatest joy? We may reply, “well, God, of course.” The problem with that short answer is that it leaves out this all-important point: that while our joy is God himself, it is based upon pleasing him. It seems to me that we cannot derive joy in contemplating God without simultaneously seeing ourselves fully pleasing him. In other words, joy in God and wanting to please God are indivisible. Our joy in God rests on knowing that we are pleasing him. So to know the one true God is to yearn to please him, and even when we just anticipate fully pleasing him, we start to feel a joy knows no bounds.
So how do we get there? We ask the question: What kind of person do I consider worth sacrificing anything and everything to become? Then we devote our lives to practicing being that person. Take note that practicing being that person must be something you could work on under any and all circumstances. So if you say, “well, I just want to be the best farmer or rancher I can be, or totally successful as a teacher or in my business or my marriage or as a parent” you need to go deeper because these external circumstances can be taken from you. You won’t always be able to farm or ranch, or teach or run a business. Your spouse may die, your children will grow and be gone, then what?
So it begins with a process of discovery. I start by asking, what is the most wholesome and cherished desire I have regarding who I want to be always and everywhere? If the Spirit of God is in me, then that most noble desire is born of the Spirit.
Then it means realizing that the essence of God’s purpose for me is that I become that person. The more I practice becoming that person, the more God is having his way with me, the more pleased he is with me, and the greater my joy.
The joy set before Jesus was that same joy — becoming the person the Father wanted him to be. Consider what it took: Hebrews 5:7-9 — 7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”
Now here’s an amazing thought: To see us full of joy in having God’s purposes completely fulfilled in us was the joy Jesus focused his attention on that got him through his sufferings on the cross. And when we also see the joy of having God‘s purposes fulfilled in us, then we too will have the stuff to endure our life’s adversities.
Allow me to personalize it: So when you fix your eyes on Jesus, what will you see? You will see your Savior enduring the cross by keeping his eyes are on the joy set before him. What joy? The joy of being able to help you stay focused on pleasing God and thereby endure and overcome everything that could rob you of the joy of fully pleasing God.
