Looking to Jesus
Looking to Jesus and fixing our minds on Him is a powerful way to overcome sin and deepen our understanding of Him.
Mary Wilder Tileston emphasizes the importance of growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, urging believers to focus on Jesus during the period of Lent by immersing themselves in the Gospels and seeking to understand His life fully. She highlights the transformative power of fixing our minds on Jesus, allowing Him to draw near to us and change us into His image. Tileston contrasts this approach with physical austerities or spiritual self-reproaches, stating that true change and victory over sin come from looking to Jesus.
Text
Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and for ever. Amen. 2 PETER 3:18
Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?
LUKE 24:32
NOTHING could make the period of Lent so much of a reality as to employ it in a systematic effort to fix the mind on Jesus. The history in the Gospels is so well worn that it often slips through the head without affecting the heart. But if, retiring into solitude for a portion of each day, we should select some one scene or trait or incident in the life of Jesus, and with all the helps we can get seek to understand it fully, tracing it in the other evangelists, comparing it with other passages of Scripture, etc., we should find ourselves insensibly interested, and might hope that, in this effort of our souls to understand Him, Jesus Himself would draw near, as He did of old to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. This looking unto Jesus and thinking about Him is a better way to meet and overcome sin than any physical austerities or spiritual self--reproaches. It is by looking at Him, the Apostle says, "as in a glass," that we are "changed into the same image, as from glory to glory."
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
Sermon Outline
- Looking to Jesus
- Benefits of Looking to Jesus
- The Process of Looking to Jesus
- Retiring into Solitude
- Selecting a Scene or Trait in Jesus' Life
- Seeking to Understand Jesus Fully
Key Quotes
“NOTHING could make the period of Lent so much of a reality as to employ it in a systematic effort to fix the mind on Jesus.” — Mary Wilder Tileston
“It is by looking at Him, the Apostle says, 'as in a glass,' that we are 'changed into the same image, as from glory to glory.'” — Mary Wilder Tileston
Application Points
- Make a systematic effort to fix your mind on Jesus during the period of Lent.
- Retire into solitude and seek to understand a scene or trait in Jesus' life.
- Look to Jesus as the source of transformation and overcoming sin.