Author: Michael Himick

Jesus Rose from the Table

Jesus said, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” — John 13:15

Jesus rose —
He rose from the tomb,
victor over death;
He rose from the table,
example for our lives.

Stripping down to servants’ garb,
the Lord of All Creation
humbly rose from dinner
to do the good
that needed done.

With followers quarreling
over which of them was best,
God Himself washed
dust and dung off
dirty disciple feet.

Returning to the table,
the King serving servants said:
“Now you should do
as I have done;
love and serve each other.”

Servant soles Kingly washed,
insteps free of past roads’ filth,
we learn:
“How happy you will be
if you do as I have done.”

Devotional poem © 2016 Michael Himick. Used with permission.

The only aim that it is worthy of a man to live for, as his supreme and dominant one, is that he shall be completely molded in character, disposition, nature, heart, and will into the likeness of Jesus Christ, who is the image of God.

Alexander MacLaren

The Greek word in Hebrews 12:2 often translated “fixing our eyes” literally means “to look away from all else at” Jesus.

From G. Abbott-Smith’s “A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament”

A Thousand Things

God’s Word says, “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus” — Hebrews 12:1-2

A thousand things compete
for my attention every day —
there are a thousand
would-be masters
of my time.
Nearly all of them
will lead me
astray.

A thousand carnival barkers
tout thrills
cheap and passing.
A thousand consiglieri
counsel comforts
hollow and gilt.
Buying — selling.
Asking — telling.

O Jesus,
whisper to me
words of life
a thousand times louder than
a thousand shouted propositions.
Help me run across
the fields of distraction
with my eyes fixed on You.

Devotional poem © 2016 Michael Himick. Used with permission.

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

God’s Word says, “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus” — Hebrews 12:1-2