I have recently realized that I need new glasses. The ones I have been wearing are distorted and foggy. The focus is all wrong. There are better glasses out there, ones that will help me see the world around me so much more clearly.
No, I am not talking about actual glasses. (I do wear those, but I can see through mine just fine.) I am talking about my life glasses: the lenses through which I view myself and others and life in general.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness…” -Matthew 6:22-23
When you first get (actual) glasses, everything you see is so different. It is bright and clear and focused. You didn’t even know how bad your eyes actually were, until you put on that pair of glasses. It’s the coolest thing! I had that experience when I got my first pair of glasses way back in 4th grade. This experience can be compared to how I began to view things after I became a Christian.
“Then Jesus spoke to them again: ‘I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.’” -John 8:12
Over time, vision can change, and mine got worse. Things weren’t quite as clear as they were when I first got my glasses. I had to have my lenses adjusted…and after, everything was clear again! This happens in life as well; when I start believing lies instead of truth, my vision gets worse and my view becomes distorted. My focus becomes off-center.
The solution is getting new glasses.
“Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us, <keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him> endured a cross and despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.” -Hebrews 12:1-2
I have to choose to take off the old glasses, the ones that have become distorted by jealousy and comparison and insecurity, the ones that cause me to see things in a negative way. I have to choose to put on a new pair of glasses, ones that allow me to view the world through lenses of joy and grace. These lenses help me see myself and others and the world around me the way that God sees these things.
“God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. … Restore the joy of Your salvation to me, and give me a willing spirit.” -Psalm 51:10, 12
Today, I am choosing to take off my old glasses, and I am allowing God to give me a brand new pair!
“And the ransomed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with singing, crowned with unending joy. Joy and gladness will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.” -Isaiah 51:11
