Keep Your Eyes On The Prize

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Matthew 16:21-22 NIV

There are times in life when all is going well, when we are in the center of God’s will and we are experiencing one blessing after another. I thank God for those times! But God’s will also leads us into times of suffering, and it’s often in those times we are able to grow the closest to Him and have the greatest impact on the world around us. I’m thankful for those times too! At this point in Jesus’ ministry, He was well aware that He was about to suffer greatly! God’s plan of redemption, the salvation of the world, required that Jesus go to the cross. Suffering is never easy for anyone, but I’m sure nothing you or I will ever suffer compares to physical and emotional pain Jesus endured on our behalf.

I can only imagine how desperate Satan was to keep Jesus from carrying out the plan. I’m sure he threw everything he could at Jesus to discourage Him from going through with it. It only makes sense that Satan fights the hardest against the people who God desires to use the most. Jesus, most certainly, tops the list!

Although with good intentions, Peter spoke words that had potential to discourage Jesus from staying the course God had planned for him. Satan often speaks through others, sometimes even those closest to us, in an attempt to lead us astray. It’s critical that we learn to recognize when this is happening and keep our emotions under control, so we don’t fall prey to this tactic.

Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Matthew 16:23 NIV

Jesus was so focused on the Father, so focused on “the concerns of God,” that he saw Peter’s words for what they were; Satan’s attempt to knock Him off course. He understood that Satan was behind the comment and did not allow Himself to be drawn in by His own emotional response. How often are we knocked off by a comment made by someone around us? Whether it’s a comment made with our best interest in mind, like Peter’s, or a backhanded comment meant to sting, we need to learn to be so focused on “the concerns of God,” that we recognize it for what it is.

So how do achieve the focus and mindset that Jesus demonstrated? He gives us a clue in His next statements.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. Matthew 16:24-27 NIV

We must start with a willingness to deny ourselves and to lay down our lives for something better. Even if it’s hard at times, there is great reward in serving Jesus! We must not lose sight of that, we must keep our eyes on the prize! Nothing else matters. Everything in this life, riches, success and even family, pale in comparison to the reward we will receive when God declares to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.”

Keep your eyes on the prize! Filter everything you hear, everything you see, and every emotion you experience through God’s plan for your life and determine if it’s in keeping with the “concerns of God” or merely “human concerns.” After accurately identifying what it is, you can react accordingly, in keeping with God’s will.