In his second session for the morning and the convention, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya titled his message, Looking. This was based on the scripture in Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…”
Pastor Taiwo Odukoya focused attention on the phrase: “looking unto Jesus…” He explained the difference between the passive action of “seeing” things and actively “looking” at something.
Looking, he said, is a deliberate act – you look away from everything else to focus on the one thing. Seeing is happenstance. He substantiated this argument with events as recorded in the Bible.
When God was looking for a king, only one man saw himself as king in the nation of Israel; in fact only a mere boy (David) saw himself as king and God reached out to him even when he was in the wilderness. It does not matter your location; God will locate you.
Psalm 80:16
Pastor Taiwo reminded the congregation of the scripture in Hebrews 12:1, “Seeing that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses” – a huge crowd of men of faith watching us, we cannot deny that we have examples of men who modeled the life expected of believers. These men and women of old belong to the Hall of Fame of Bible Heroes. However, as wonderful and heroic as their feats were, without us, the story is not yet concluded. It is expected that our stories will complete and conclude these accounts of heroism.
Thus, it is crucial that we run this race, “Looking unto Jesus” the author, the originator, finisher, and the perfecter of our faith because He is the one i.e. everything that we want to become. There is an advantage here because as Pastor Odukoya emphasized, Christ “created, saved and called you. He has concluded your matter”.
Therefore the question for every believer to ask is, “how do I actualise all these things that Christ has already provided?” The answer is, “by looking unto Jesus”, Pastor Odukoya said.
Three things are important in the life of a man – your assignment, your seed and the Holy Ghost.
“I began to study the word ‘looking’”, Pastor Taiwo continued; noting that “I see what I look for but I don’t necessarily have to look at what I see”. ‘Looking’ implies you choose to neglect everything else and concentrate on the one thing that is most important. Your subconscious will draw in and keep in your memory what you choose to look at’, he said.
Luke 17:32 – Jesus was speaking and said, “Remember what happened to Lots wife!” What did she do that makes her unforgettable? SHE LOOKED BACK. The instruction that Lot and his family received was “don’t look back”. On the other hand Lot’s wife did and suffered the consequences.
Lots problem in life generally emanated from what he looked at. Lot chose Sodom because of what he looked at. A person that chooses to look at failure or fear – makes it impossible for anyone to help them make a success of their situation.
The Bible says “Looking unto Jesus” because it is important that you don’t put your focus on man. Jesus is the source. You are a hero if you are born again because it’s a new ball game – you are now in the business of “looking unto Jesus”.
Pastor Odukoya illustrated the importance of “looking unto Jesus” with a number of other examples from the Bible including the story of Abraham who chose not to be in strife with his nephew (Lot) and in turn came into an inheritance extending as far as his eyes could see; Peter who when he looked unto Jesus walked upon the sea for as long as he focused on Jesus. If you live by God’s principles, failure is eliminated.