Fix Your Thoughts on Jesus

Have a wonderful, P48-filled thinking week!

Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.

Hebrews 3:1

When Jesus went up to Jerusalem to the pool near the Sheep Gate, He saw a great number of disabled people lying there. They were blind, lame, and paralyzed. They were probably discouraged and defeated as well. Minds can put on many miles and thoughts can travel a lot of territory when you’re sick, sad, or up in the middle of the night unable to sleep.

One of the people that were among the sick on the day that Jesus visited was a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. His demeanor must’ve communicated hopelessness because Jesus had to ask him, “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:6)

In his self-pity and excuse making, he said, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me” (John 5:7).

When things don’t go the way we think they should go, disappointment can sink our spirits. In his mind, the way to healing was the pool. In his single-minded focus on the water, he nearly missed the presence, power, and mercy of the One standing in front of him, willing and able to provide healing.

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked (John 5:8-9). Healing comes when we fix our eyes on Jesus! Hope is restored when we fix our thoughts on Him!

Sadly, the miraculous transformation that took place in the man’s body failed to reach his soul. He walked right into trouble, but he didn’t go alone. Jesus found him. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you” (John 5:14). 

Is your soul downcast, dejected, and despondent today? Jesus asks, “Do you want to get well?” If so, by faith fix your thoughts on Jesus. And then keep your thoughts fixed on Him, not just in the moment by the pool when your legs can suddenly move again, but every minute of every day, no matter where your feet tread.

Think on it: Like the man who was focused on the pool, are you single-minded in your expectations of what you need most right now? Choose to surrender your wishes for His will.

It isn’t wrong to ask God to relieve you of your pain, but it is more important that in the midst of the pain that you rely on the promise of God to work such experiences for His glory and your good—to use these times as a means of perfecting your faith, strengthening your spirit, and transforming your life in such a way that you are becoming more like Jesus.

Joe Thorn

grace and peace,

Lenae