Looking

I have been thinking about the power of looking.

The other day I went to the dentist and he kept telling me to move my head up. I wanted to see the tools he was using and what to expect next, so I would look out of the corner of my eye. It wouldn’t be long before he would tell me again to move my head back.

It reminded me about a lesson my brother learned at motorcycle driving school that he shared with me. I asked him when he was done what the most valuable thing he learned was. He said he learned where to look. They said that the motorcycle will go where you look. So they set up cones and taught them where they should be looking while entering a turn and then coached them where to look as they progressed through the turn.

This past weekend I went wake boarding for the first time. I happened to be there with Cyrus, a.k.a.“El Tigre”. He was telling me how to do a flip over the wake... “Just look over your shoulder as you hit the wake”.

The children of Israel were cursed with serpents when they had spoken against God and Moses for taking them into the wilderness to die. Many were bitten and many died. Moses was instructed to raise a serpent up on a pole and was told all who look upon the raised serpent shall live. The lord didn’t take away the serpents, just gave them a way, regardless of the serpents. This required them to look and have faith in God.

Is it any different today? If anything, there are many more types of serpents today. Many have been bitten and many have died. The cure is still the same... Look! The serpent represented Jesus Christ and he too was raised up. The call to “look” is still the same. When we are truly looking at Christ, our actions and thoughts will naturally fall into place and we will have a greater desire to be like Him. He has the power to heal.

There is great power in looking. I can’t help but ask myself….Where am I looking? I have noticed that when I am “looking” at the Savior everything else seems to fall into place. I am amazed at how simple and easy life is when I am focused on Him. I am also amazed at how hard it is to stay focused on him. Just like shooting a gun, small adjustments must constantly be made to keep the bulls eye in the center. We too must continue to make small adjustments in our lives to make Jesus Christ the center of our lives. I love the saying

If Jesus Christ is not the center of our lives it doesn’t matter what is there instead.

I believe in Jesus Christ. I am trying to make Him the center of my life. I have faith that He has the ability to heal me of all my “bites” of this world if I will look at Him. I know he has the power to do this and I have felt the healing power of his Atonement. I love Him because he loved me first.