Vision Check

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
– I Corinthians 2:12

I remember being in elementary school and every student having to routinely have their vision checked. Do you remember the eye chart with the capital letter E flipped around in different directions? Well, I do. How could I forget having to contort my hand to resemble the position of the letter E on the chart? Prior to having my vision screening, I had no problems with the way I saw everything. I thought my vision was absolutely perfect. Well, after my vision screen in the third grade my parents received a note home from the school nurse stating that I needed to have a thorough eye exam because she measured my vision to be 20/80. That was hilarious to me because I thought there is no way in the world my vision could be that bad. I was studious and I always sat in the front of the classroom. I was able to see everything I needed to see. I thought to myself, “This nurse has absolutely lost her mind.” To me, my vision was perfect. My parents asked me if I felt like I had any problems with seeing and I assured them that my vision was ok so, they believed me. On I went about my business until the sixth grade when low and behold; I could not see the chalkboard from the back of the classroom. Off to Harrington Vision we went. The optometrist asked me to sit in the chair. As he went through the different lenses on the slit lamp that I had to look though, the optometrist asked “Which one is better, 1 or 2, 3or 4? I was responding accordingly. I was astonished at how much I could not see. It was all because I was measuring my vision based on my own thinking and not an unchanging standard. My parents took my word over the nurses’ note. Certainly, I would know if I could see or not, right? Wrong, at this point, my glasses were so thick and heavy that I still have a scar on my cheek from where they sat. If we had followed the nurses advise and had that eye exam earlier, my eyes could have avoided further damage.

When we decide to accept Christ as our personal savior, most of us believe that our life is already great. We think we are doing great from where we are sitting. What we fail to realize is where we are currently sitting is not always the place where we will be. We need to have a broader scope of vision to be able to see at all distances and locations. We believe that if we do what we see other Christians do, we were living life the way God intended. Keep in mind that on display are Christians falling in certain areas so new believers think that this is the standard. You have to be careful of Christians who do many things for their own selfish egos but calling it all in the name of Jesus. How many times have you seen Christians not getting along with each other, losing their cool, belittling one another, not forgiving others and not loving unconditionally? The list could go on forever. We in the flesh naturally align our walk with our own perspective or the perspective of those we trust. The problem with that is none of us is perfect and we will have our individual struggles. When we measure our lives according to the next Christian, it gives a false sense of clear spiritual vision. It actually feeds the flesh in that we feel that we are better than the next Christian, but fail to realize that we are still far away from the Christian God will have us to be. It is not until you get into the Word and receive understanding for yourself, that you realize how spiritually blind you are. No measurement of your faith is acceptable other than the one measured on God’s standard. I encourage you to seek the face of God and allow His word to be your standard. I promise the answers to the problems you have will come with so much ease. We are uniquely designed by God to walk in a specific purpose. You will not find that purpose by mimicking another’s journey. YOU WILL GET CLEAR SPIRITUAL VISION WHEN YOU PUT ON YOUR SPIRITUAL GLASSES. LOOSE YOURSELF IN GOD’S WORD to avoid any unnecessary scars from needless heavy burdens and objects we stumble on because we are spiritually blind.

Reflection Scriptures:
~1 Corinthians 2:7-12~1 John 4:1~James 1:5~Ephesians 4:18~John 13:7~Matthew 7:21-23