WHERE ARE YOU LOOKING?
By L. A. S.
In the Christian life it is a matter of vital importance to look in the right direction. The right direction is toward God. All the trouble in the universe began, in the first place, by looking away from God. Lucifer, the covering cherub, began looking away from the Creator, to himself. Lucifer was a perfect being, possessed of exalted wisdom, glory, and beauty. Of all this he began to take account. His thoughts began to be turned inward upon himself, the tide of his being began to flow inward instead of outward, and this was selfishness,—a principle exactly opposite to that manifested in the life of God, and upon which He had founded His government. The life of God is a continual outflow from himself to His creation; and each of His creatures is to pass on the tide of divine blessing from himself to others. This is the way it has always been in heaven. In the abode of righteousness no being thinks of himself. The angels are not self-conscious. They do not think of their own glory and beauty, for they “do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.” Lucifer reversed the order which had been established in heaven, by intercepting the tide of divine blessing and appropriating it to himself. By this he shut God away from him, and changed himself into the devil; for without God no being is or can be anything but a devil. But if, when he began looking at his own wisdom and excellence, he had looked away from himself again to God, he would have recovered himself and have averted the ruin which came upon him. The selfishness with which he had become tainted would have disappeared; he would again have become a channel of the divine life, instead of becoming, as he did, a stagnant pool of self. And for every one of Adam’s race who has become tainted with self, there is available the same remedy—the simple looking away from self to God. For this purpose Jesus Christ has been lifted up before the world, and the eternal Father has revealed himself in Christ. “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Cor. 4: 6. While the devil is calling our attention to anything and everything that can divert the view from God to that which is of the world, even for an hour, God has provided for us this glorious view of the face of Jesus Christ. Is this a spectacle worth our attention? Is it worth more than the tawdry shows gotten up by the evil one to catch our attention and fasten it to a doomed earth? These are questions for each of us to answer for himself. Do not think that in the Christian life it will be necessary every now and then to stop and take account of the excellences to which you have attained. That is both unnecessary and dangerous. The one thing necessary is to look steadily unto the divine Pattern, the Captain of our salvation. The Christian need not feel worried because he is not conscious of growth in grace. Growth is not a thing the grower is ever conscious of. The sure way to grow is to behold “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” until there is no consciousness of self, and the sure way to shut off Christian growth is to look away from that vision to ourselves. So it is worth while to consider the question, To what are you looking? The most glorious sight in the universe is before you. Have you seen it yet? If not, do not delay, but by faith behold it now.