Turn your Eyes Upon Jesus

This week's Thought is written by Peter Hodson.
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“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus”. (Hebrews 12:2) 

​Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of his glory and grace.

This well-known, beautiful hymn was previously called “The Heavenly Vision” and was written in 1922 by Helen Howarth Lemel.  It was inspired by Helen’s reading of a tract by Lilias Trotter entitled, Focussed.  Part of the tract read:
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“Turn full your soul’s vision to Jesus, and look and look at Him, and a strange dimness will come over all that is apart from Him… for He is worthy to have all there is to be had in the heart that He has died to win.”

Lilias Trotter, tells in her article of an early morning walk in a little wood; “The sun was climbing behind a steep cliff in the east, and its light was flooding nearer and nearer and then making pools among the trees. Suddenly, from a dark corner of purple-brown stems and tawny moss there shone out a great golden star. It was just a dandelion, and half withered – but it was full face to the sun and had caught into its heart all the glory it could hold and was shining so radiantly that the dew that lay on it still made a perfect aureole round its head. And it seemed to talk, standing there – to talk about the possibility of making the very best of these lives of ours.”

 Perhaps we can relate to being “just a dandelion, and half withered”!  It could be that we are going through difficulties or have just become distracted by the pressures and demands of life.  Yet there is no situation too remote, nor time too inconvenient, where we can’t lift our eyes to the Sun of Righteousness who has risen with healing in His wings and let his glorious light bathe us and fill our souls.  For He who’s light is never dimmed is always there for us and he said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”. 

Like the sun that caused the dandelion to reflect that beautiful golden glow, so Christ can fill our poor limited vision with Himself, and we too can make ‘the very best of these lives of ours.” 

Peter Hodson