Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. We are all entitled to our opinion … no matter how ill-informed or ignorant it may be. I realize that may be politically incorrect and sound, frankly, quite arrogant. But, please bear with me.

Your opinion about something is your point of view or your perspective. From where you sit, things look a certain way. A person who sits in another place has another point of view or perspective. Because of our experiences and background, all of us sit in different places. It follows that our perspectives are all a little different.

In most cases our different perspectives can each add to a discussion or to arriving at a decision. There is an old saying: “none of us is as smart as all of us.” I think that we’ve all seen that adage at work in group decision making.

But, in our spiritual life, all perspectives aren’t the same. I wish that I could say that I could see things the way that God sees them. I can’t. I can’t take His point of view, no matter how hard I try. What I can do is what the writer to the Hebrews says in chapter 3: “Brothers and sisters, you are holy partners in a heavenly calling. So look carefully at Jesus, the apostle and chief priest about whom we make our declaration of faith.”

Unless I’m looking carefully at Jesus, I’m losing my perspective. I may still be entitled to my opinion, but my perspective on things is skewed unless I am carefully looking at Jesus.

As we approach the season of Lent, we often hear people talk of “giving something up for Lent.” More than giving things up, Lent is a time to refocus our gaze on Jesus. I pray that these coming weeks will provide you the time to look carefully at Jesus.