Before I began this blog, I had another blog on a different site for several years.  That blog is now closed, but each Friday, at least for a while, I want to resurrect some of my favorite posts from the previous blog.  This one is from May 2009.

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“It’s not nice to stare.” That is what we are taught and that is what we teach our daughter. Nothing is creepier than feeling the cold stare of a total stranger.

But when it comes to our dreams and aspirations, we all stare at something or someone. Maybe our gaze is on a family member or a close friend, acquaintance, or even a celebrity. IF we could just be like them, then our lives would be so much better. So we think. Maybe our gaze is on a new job or yet acquired possession. If we just had that, then we could be happy. Such gazes are fantasy, and should we ever attain that at which we gaze, we would find it disappointingly empty and insufficient.

Yet another stare, is the gaze of observation. I have noticed Bekah watch me or someone else very closely only to soon imitate what she sees. She reads from her Bible and “preaches” with many of the same mannerisms I employ. She sings songs from the hymnal and “directs” the singing like those she sees in church. She stares that she may learn and imitate.

Such is the gaze you and I need.

But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. – James 1:25

God’s Word provides the perfect object of observation. But a casual glance, a cursory reading if you will, of that Word will not affect much in our lives. The word in the James passage that is translated “looks” literally means to stoop down or bend over to get a better focus on the object of one’s sight. When we take the time to examine God’s Word, to break it down into its various parts and seek to understand it contextual meaning and its contemporary application, then that Word can transform our lives.

When we gaze into the pages of Scripture we see God for who He really is, we see Christ crucified on our behalf and seated on His throne, we see ourselves and what we sadly are in reality, and we see the path of life God has mapped out for us to follow. To see all of that, one has to stare – a passing glance will not suffice.

How can we expect to grow more like Christ when we do not take the time and make the effort to stare at Him, study His movements and mannerisms, learn how He thinks, and observe how He acts? Is it no wonder we fail to reach our spiritual growth potential when we spend more time gazing at woefully insufficient models than gazing at the more than sufficient Master? Bible study is not optional for the disciple who wants to be like his Master.

If I can challenge you to ramp up one discipline in your lives, it would be this one. Spend much time in God’s Word, especially the New Testament, and most especially the Gospels. If we want to imitate Jesus then we need to stare at Him. See Him in action. Scrutinize His every step. Then and only then will our lives reflect Him.

So . . . who are you staring at today?