Eyes to See

I still don't like wearing them. Never have. I always feel as if I am about to step wrong on the stairs or off the sidewalk. I feel like a toddler first learning to walk. But because I can no longer read without them, reading glasses have become a necessary part of my attire. I always carry them with me – usually in my shirt pocket.

That's where they were, in my shirt pocket, while my wife and I enjoyed our meal at a local Italian restaurant. It wasn't until an hour later, when we were about to leave, that my eyes started burning from strain and I put the glasses on.

Then it happened. Water droplets on my iced‑tea glass, spots of tomato sauce beneath my plate, creases in the table cloth – how did I sit at the table for nearly an hour and never notice them? Stains and wrinkles which blurred into non‑descript shadows suddenly shouted for attention. For a few moments I played with my glasses, shifting them on my nose, marveling at how different things look when you can really see.

And then I saw a disturbing spiritual parallel.

 

How many spots and wrinkles within the fabric of our lives do you think blur into unrecognizable shadows because we neglect to wear our spiritual glasses? When our Bibles lie closed on the bookshelf and we view our world through the filters of news broadcasts, sitcoms, movies and newspapers, is it any wonder that the crisp lines of God's "Thou Shalt Not" blur into "Maybe it's ok"?

The Lord Jesus is coming for a church without spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27; 2 Peter 3:14), and He warned those who claim to have sight – but in reality are blind – to receive from Him salve to anoint their eyes that they may see (Rev 3: 17, 18).

If there ever was a time to see, it is now. If there ever was a time to acquire some salve, it is now. It is time we reopen His word and seek a clearer vision of His truth and not the culture’s.

Or will we be embarrassed at His return by unseen stains and wrinkles because we left our spiritual glasses in our pockets or closed on the bookshelf?

(See here and here for some suggestions about reading your Bible)