by Pastor Douglas Brauner

Looking Up to Jesus on Life’s Path

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.”
Psalm 131:3 English Standard Version

It is easy to look down as we journey through life. There is much suffering and pain that we see around us and that we experience in us. Not only are we tempted to look down, but we are also seduced to look behind us and long for the better days of the past as the Israelites did when they dwelt in Babylon.

Psalm 131 is a short psalm used by pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem and to the temple for worship. The psalm is a call to humility, to NOT lifting our eyes too high which seems to contradict what they were doing. The pilgrims fixed their eyes upward as they approached Jerusalem and the temple. It would have been natural for them to look up, away from their feet. It would have been normal for them to rejoice at the presence of the temple and longing to be in the courts of the Lord.

The call to look up is not a call to relish in the pride of human achievements, but a call to look with eyes fixed on the God who emptied heaven of his Son, the true Temple whom we worship. It is both a call to humility and to hold on to the One who forgives us, walks with us, and promised to bring us into his presence.

This call to look up with humility is also a call to look ahead.

“The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way…”
Proverbs 14:8 ESV

We, like the pilgrims, are making our way through this world until God reaches down to bring his bride home. With eyes up, may our eyes also look ahead to how God will use us in life, letting others see and hear the love that God has for his creation as we discern our path forward.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado