Today, I want to do something a little different. I’d like to introduce a visual exercise to help us meditate on a passage from Scripture. Those of you who know me won’t be surprised that the image we’ll be using is a medieval world map. I turn to these maps again and again because they teach me so many lessons about the Christian faith. Today, we’ll see how the Hereford Map provides a way into Scripture.

One of my favorite New Testament passages comes from the book of Hebrews. Encouraging God’s people to hold fast to their faith, the author of Hebrews writes:

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. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith . . . (Heb 12:1–2 NIV)

In this passage, the author of Hebrews gives a direct command to the followers of Christ. In all things, fix your eyes on Jesus. When you grow weary, fixate on him. When you become entangled in sin, fixate on him. When you can’t fix your world, fixate on the one who can.

This seems like such a simple directive – fix your eyes on Jesus. And yet it can be so difficult. How busy and distracted I am! How hard it is to focus on Jesus in the midst of my scattered world.

The Hereford Map is a picture of my world—crammed full of things. In fact, the map contains some two thousand pictures and inscriptions. As is my own life, it’s easy to get lost in this world. One place helps us get our bearings: at the center of this bustling world is the city of Jerusalem with a picture of Christ on the cross.

Try this exercise. Find a good reproduction of the Hereford Map (you can look on my resources page or elsewhere on the internet) and spend some time with it. Let your eye wander over the world, from the Garden of Eden at the top to the Pillars of Hercules at the bottom.

This is fun to do, because there is a lot to see and discover! But I’ve learned something. When I spend time perusing the Hereford Map, I find that my gaze is drawn, again and again, to the center. I can’t look at the map for long without my eye coming to rest on the cross of Christ. I’m willing to bet that this is also the case with you. The mapmakers designed it this way because they knew the power of the center.

This experience with the map leads to Scriptural truth. When we contemplate the Hereford Map and let our eyes rest on the cross rising from the city of Jerusalem, we have put the admonition of Hebrews into practice. We have fixed our eyes on Jesus! We have focused on him and gazed at his beauty. We have, even if only for a moment, cut out the distractions of the world.

I encourage you to carry with you—in your mind, in your heart, maybe on a piece of paper—this passage of Scripture and this medieval map. Use them to help keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. It’s a wonderful way to begin putting into practice the words of Hebrews. Through it, we affirm that Jesus is the center of Scripture and of our world.