Lions are known to stalk their prey, quietly pursuing an animal until they are ready to pounce. Stealth and quietness are the tactics they use to creep up unannounced on their unsuspecting prey.
Many animals stalk others, relying on their senses (eyesight, hearing, smell) to guide them. Stalking involves a quiet determination and a studied attentiveness.
Hebrews 3:1 urges us to fix our thoughts on Jesus. The word used means ‘to consider attentively, to fix one’s minds or eyes upon.’ It’s found in Luke 12:24 when Jesus urges us to ‘consider the ravens‘ and in Heb 10;24 when we are told to ‘consider how we may spur one another to love and good deeds.’ The idea is that we think about something and focus our attention on Jesus.
The lion stalking its prey has one thought on its mind: the satisfaction of food. We need the same single-minded devotion to and attention on Jesus. One of the enemy’s chief tactics is distraction. If he can divert us from thinking about Jesus, focussing our attention instead on other things (on world issues, politics, poverty, people, illness, finances, celebrations), then he will weaken us and defeat us more easily. Jesus is the spiritual substance we need to sustain and satisfy us; we cannot afford to be distracted from Him.
Hebrews 12:2 tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus, using a different word that means ‘to look away from all else at…’ Looking solely at Jesus is the key to running this race marked out for us with perseverance. We need the single-minded vision of the athlete and the determined focus of the lion if we are to avoid distraction and diversion and ultimately triumph in life.
