Fixed

 September 18, 2020

When my day is pretty ordinary, I revert to the gratitude calendar I started out with seven years ago. Today’s suggestions are, something fixed, folded, and freckled. I’ll take them in reverse order.

Freckled is a bit difficult. I don’t know too many freckled people, so the only freckles I can come up with are the freckly spots on the bottoms of my beehives. They’re speckled with bits of wax, but so far, not with mites, for which I am grateful. Hive mites are one of the banes of apiarists; they attach both to adult bees and their larvae, causing deformity of the emerging bees, which weakens and can eventually kill the colony. So having a bottom board freckled with only wax is something for which I give thanks tonight.

As for folded, yesterday when I arrived at my mother’s, I relieved my sister who was caring for her the previous day. We got to talking about Options Care Center, the pro-life pregnancy center of which my daughter is the executive director. My 98 year old mother gives regularly to this ministry, and had already given for the Walk for Life. Her previous gift didn’t deter her one bit as she insisted I take another contribution. My sister also wrote a check, both of which I folded into my wallet to bring me that much closer to my goal of raising $500. I’m getting close!

So what is fixed? My thoughts went immediately to Hebrews 12:1-2. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Usually, when I think of “fixed,” it refers to something broken that has been repaired, but here, it’s a steady focus on the Source and Foundation of our faith. You would think this would be easy, almost second nature, but I’ve found it’s more difficult than it seems. It’s much easier to get fixated on other things; on politics, sports, hobbies, a job, family, or the internet. I have to check myself regularly. What is my default mode? Do I reach for my phone every time I have a minute unoccupied by anything else? I find it’s easy to check the news before I read my Bible. When I do, I’m fixated on the wrong thing. It is a continual battle to fix my gaze upon Jesus Christ before anything else. He is the only reliable source of stability in life, so I keep working at it. I am thankful that he fixed his eyes on the cross for me. The least I can do is fix my eyes on him.