Look to Me

Look to Me

Today's Bible Reading: ISAIAH 44:6-48:11

Isaiah 45:22

“Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.”

So often we look in the wrong place for the right thing. We all want satisfaction, security and serenity. We seek for these in relationships, jobs, academics, self-awareness and many other pursuits. Yet we remain unsatisfied and unfulfilled. But we keep searching in hopes that one day we will find what we are looking and longing for.

Our text tells us first to “look”. Looking doesn’t cost anything or really demand anything. Anyone who could can look. It doesn’t take any great skill to look. We look all the time. But here we are to look so we can find what we have been looking for. Here is a look that will bring the satisfaction that we have been hoping for.

We are to look but we are to look “to Me”. Our gaze needs be directed to God. We are to direct our focus upon Him. We are to “turn our eyes upon Jesus”. It is looking to Him that brings the satisfaction that we have been longing for. There is nowhere else to look that will bring the joy and fulfillment that we seek. There “is no other” one to look toward to find peace. He is our hope and help. He is the one to whom we are to look. There is no need to look elsewhere, so look to Him.

Looking unto Jesus leads to salvation. Our text says, “look to me, and be saved.” What a glorious invitation and promise. We are told to look unto Him so that we might be saved. All those who look by faith unto Jesus will be saved. That is our assurance of salvation. The text doesn’t say “could be” or “might be” but simply “be”. Those who look unto Him “will” be saved. We will be saved from sin and death, by looking to the sinless perfect Jesus who gave His life to pay the debt for our sins. We look to Him and receive pardon. We look to Him and receive forgiveness. We look to Him and receive eternal life. Look to Him and be saved.

He is what you have been searching for. He is “God and there is no other”. Your search is complete when you look to Him.

Historically, this simple verse had an impact in the conversion of Charles Spurgeon, the “prince of preachers”,. At the age of 15 a terrible snow storm arouse as the then unsaved Spurgeon was heading to attend church. He could go no further and ducked into a small church to avoid the storm and to attend their service. There were only about a dozen in attendance and even the minister was snowed in and unable to attend. A laymen stood and read Isaiah 45:22 and briefly expounded on the text in his 10 minute impromptu sermon, concluding with “O, look to Me! Look to Me!”

Spurgeon recounts what happened next:

“Then he looked at me under the gallery, and I daresay, with so few present, he knew me to be a stranger. He then said, ‘Young man, you look very miserable.’ Well, I did; but I had not been accustomed to have remarks made on my personal appearance from the pulpit before. However, it was a good blow struck. He continued: ‘And you will always be miserable—miserable in life and miserable in death—if you do not obey my text. But if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved.’ Then he shouted, as only a Primitive Methodist can, ‘Young man, look to Jesus Christ.’ There and then the cloud was gone, the darkness had rolled away, and that moment I saw the sun; and I could have risen that moment and sung with the most enthusiastic of them of the Precious Blood of Christ.”

Spurgeon went on to follow God’s call into ministry to become the first mega church pastor, preaching to thousands weekly. His impact was felt throughout Great Britain and the world in the late 1890’s and continues to impact the lives of many including me through his devotional books and printed sermons.

Today stop and thank God for your conversion. Praise Him that you looked to Jesus and were saved. Thank Him for those, like the layman in Spurgeon’s life that challenged you to “look to Him and be saved”. Ask Him to help to tell someone today of the satisfaction and fulfillment that you have found from looking to Him and being saved. If you have never looked to Him to be saved, stop and do it now. In faith, say a prayer to Jesus asking him to save you from sin and death.  He promises that he will.  Romans 10:13 says “All who call upon the Lord will be saved.”