Some of you may know that I had the privilege of being a fighter pilot for a long time in the US Air Force. One of the things we trained for routinely was called Basic Fighter Maneuvers (BFM) more commonly known as “Dog fighting,” where two jets would maneuver through the sky in an effort to get in a position to shoot the other jet with guns or missiles. One of the most important concepts in this process was never to lose sight of the opponent. We had an expression that spelled it out “lose sight, lose fight.”

Somewhat similarly, Paul writes in Hebrews 12:1,2, “..And let us run the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith..”

We can endure the hardships and challenges of life, and the Christian life, by keeping our eyes on Jesus. When we look away and lose sight of him, we begin losing our fight with the temptations of life.

Dear Lord, Thank you for being the focal point of our faith. Help us remember to keep our eyes of faith on you so that we may be able to run the Christian race with endurance. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.