Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
"Turn your eyes upon Jesus..."
The song brings back fond and very specific memories.
As a young boy, probably in second or third grade, my parents would manage Ferrier Point Bible camp, situated on the far west tip of Nootka Island that lies to the west of Vancouver Island. Here's a link to a map of the area.
We lived in Tahsis and later in Esperanza, a small mission hospital on the coast between Tahsis and Zeballos. The area was totally isolated - no roads, so all travel was by boat. We spent the summers at Ferrier Point Bible camp which was at an abandoned military lookout left over from WWII. Rustic is not even an adequate word to describe it. There was no electricity, no water, and no toilets. There were three or four small buildings we used as cabins, a kitchen/dining room, and one large building that served as a chapel. There was no dock, so we had to anchor the boat in the entrance to the harbor and come ashore, with all our supplies, in a rowboat. On the plus side, it had spectacularly beautiful scenery and the large circular harbor served as a massive swimming pool at high tide or could double as ten football fields at low tide. And for a young boy there were countless hikes and beaches to explore and frogs, crabs, and fish to catch.
One of my specific memories was standing in the chapel at night singing
"Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face,
and the things of earth
will grow strangely dim,
in the light of His glory and grace."
That was the same year that I broke my arm while flying (another long story). I recall wearing a cast on my arm as I climbed along the side of a caterpillar tractor. And the passage from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 came to mind.
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies. (NIV - emphasis mine)
I realized at that point that my life was not my own. I didn't belong to myself; I belonged to Jesus who had purchased me. That meant that my plans, my ambitions, my desires were not what I should be pursuing. My goal was to seek out what God wanted to do with my life—really, with His life in mine.
I felt I was like Joseph as he was being sold by his brothers to the merchants going to Egypt. Joseph in the pit was a free man, yet condemned to die. Joseph, after being purchased as a slave, now had his life given back to him, yet he was no longer free. I, as a young boy in second or third grade, was no longer free. I had been purchased, so I was owned by God who had given me a new life.
As I lived out this concept, I found the words of the song to be true. "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, ... and the things of earth will grow strangely dim." I did not take a vow of poverty as some monks had, but the riches that the world offered no longer attracted me. I had something—or someone—much better to live for. I've probably made some poor financial choices, because, really, that was not what interested me.
Now, 65 years later, looking back, I have no regrets. What God provided, as my wife and I followed Him, far exceeded any riches, comforts, or fame the world could have afforded.
16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. (2 Cor 4:16-18 NLT)