Fixed
Jewel’s eyes were fixed on a rabbit across the yard. The rabbit’s eyes were fixed on Jewel. The stare down lasted at least five minutes before either one moved. The rabbit felt comfortable enough to chew on a blade of grass during the standoff, reminding me of an old time Western showdown. Then with eyes still gazing intensely at her long-eared interest, Jewel began to creep closer to the rabbit, then picked up speed, never taking her eyes off the little creature as she raced in the hare’s direction. It was at that moment the rabbit realized the game was over, and hightailed it out of the back yard. Jewel was foiled again!
When Jewel fixed her eyes on the rabbit, it seemed like nothing else mattered, including the reason she went outside in the first place. I wondered if that’s what it means when the Bible uses the term “fix” in both the Old and New Testaments?
It says to:
Fix his words on your heart.
In Deuteronomy, God asks us to love him and to serve him with all our hearts and soul, and in Deuteronomy 11:18, he tells us to “fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.” The Hebrew word for “fix” here is “place” or “set.” When we have a stone set in a ring, we hope it will never fall out. I remember one time when my wedding ring diamond fell off the setting, never to be found. I was devastated. We should feel the same way about our love of God. It should be a love that is securely fixed in our hearts, one we never want to lose.
Fix your gaze on his path.
Proverbs 4:25 says, “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.” Sin is always on the side road enticing us to get off the narrow path that leads to eternal life. Whatever path God has you on, it’s important to not be distracted by diversions that will lead you away from a righteous life. The Bible tells us to flee temptation. It’s time to put the blinders on so we can fix our gaze on godly pursuits.
Fix your eyes on the unseen.
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18) In his Bible commentary, John MacArthur says “Believers must look past what is temporary—what is perishing (i.e., the things of the world). Pursuing God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the souls of men should consume the believer.” We have to ask ourselves “What am I consumed with?” “What do I fix my eyes on?” “Do I care about the lost?” “Do I fix myself on the things of God, or the things of the world?”
Fix your eyes on Jesus.
“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, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2) I don’t know about you, but it scares me to think I’m a part of a spiritual reality show, and my life is being played out before a “great crowd of witnesses.” If they are my loved ones who have gone before me, I want to make them proud. I want to be a godly woman in all that I do. I desire to handle the crises in my life with Jesus at the core of my being. Right now I am in the midst of dealing with a difficult family situation. It is one that is bigger than I can handle in my own capacity, so it is imperative that I fix my eyes on Jesus because he is my strength and counsel during times of crisis.
So when we think of the word “fix,” think of an adhesive like superglue. It’s time to superglue ourselves to Jesus, attaching our hearts, our thoughts and our eyes to him. Don’t let him get away. Because when we do, we’re left standing alone, without something stable to fix ourselves to.
“Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.” (Psalm 62:7) (LBW)