WHAT DO WE SEE?

WHAT DO WE SEE?

Thursday, August 14, 2014

 

Matthew [MKJV] 18:1-4 At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who is the greater in the kingdom of Heaven? And Jesus called a little child to Him and set him in their midst, and said, Truly I say to you, Unless you are converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Therefore whoever shall humble himself like this little child, this one is the greater in the kingdom of Heaven.

 

  It is important to remember that eyes are lens and that it is our mind that does the seeing . . . AND that our mind is not always candid but only sees according to pictures and captions already there. (This is just as true with hearing.)

  Reading yesterday’s DT it could be seen as about Robin Williams, or cocaine addiction problem in society, or that grief is most about sense of our loss – not about what happened to other person, or society’s values, or depression . . . or what I tried to show:  That we often very much need to seriously adjust our view.

  In His Incarnation one of the first things adult Jesus did was emphasize man’s problem with vision. God wants us to see as He sees. (Jn.3:1-36)

 

Nicodemus had vision problem.

Religious leaders had vision problem.

Disciples with Jesus then had this vision problem.

I have this vision problem.

You have this vision problem.

 

  How am I so certain about this? I see God says it is so.

  There is however a cure; the new birth that Jesus spoke to Nicodemus and company present; a truth recorded in Gospel of John for all to see forever after. New birth does not however immediately provide full mature vision, but the beginning of the journey of increasingly gaining His vision . . . if we exercise our eyes by studying His vision. If we do not exercise, yes as those trusting Jesus as Redeemer we are heaven bound, but due to poor vision we will often stumble between here and there . . . acting out in confusion, depression, staged performance, reliance on other than the Word; a life displeasing to our Lord.

  A bit of personal history to illustrate:

  In 1955 I was newly employed by one of the world’s largest wealthy influential companies, fresh in marriage to Ann, living on our own, just past teen years but not too distant from. Always a reader, I came upon new term “inner child”, it still a darling of psychology trade. “Aha, now I understand!” and read more articles on the topic.

  With new birth eyes I no longer saw hiding “inner child” humiliation as issue needing defensive and/or offensive action, but the problem being lack of maturation according to God’s Word; a maturity that includes being a humble child.

  To summarize our need for godly ability to see life and death clearly, view Paul in Ephesians 5:14-17 stating the truth he saw after walking in blindness:

 

"Awake, sleeping ones! And arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light." See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

 

EBB4