What do you see when you look at the top of the eye chart in the optometrist’s office? If you answered the letter “E” then you were correct. They all start with a giant letter “E”. And what is more, we all know that is how they begin. The letters underneath that “E” however get smaller and more random until you reach the very small copyright notice in the bottom right side of the chart (not meant for you to read or decipher). It would seem only Bugs Bunny can read the copyright notice. But if you cannot see the giant “E” your problems with your vision are fairly significant. For me, without my contacts, or glasses, my mind knows it is an “E”, but I cannot see it. My vision is natively somewhere north of 20:4000, past legally blind, but since it can be corrected, I am not considered blind. At least not blind in what my eyes can see. In fact perhaps it is all about perception, because somehow mechanically my eyesight is more like looking through a microscope. Uncorrected, and up extremely close, I can see things most folks will never see without the aid of a microscope. But this is not a very helpful skill in normal day to day life. After all what do you really need to see up close that way in a day.
But then vision may be more about what we notice than what
we see. What registers and stays with us
is not just about how clearly we see it, but about how important it becomes to
us. For instance, the gentle laugh lines
at the edge of my wife’s eyes are nothing special for others to see. But for me they are more precious than
gold. My wife is not one of an especially
great sense of humor, so her smiles are more rare and more meaningful. And when she bursts into laughter about some
random thing, the sound of the laughter is as angels singing, and those lines
around her eyes the tangible evidence of happiness even if only for a
moment. But it would be just as easy to miss
them, to blend them in to her face overall, and pass right by them. So what we see may not always be what we
notice. And what we treasure may begin
in the eyes, and end in the soul. To
see, to notice, and to treasure what truly has meaning, is to begin to know
what it means to live and have life as He has given it to us.
So what then is truly important to you? And I realize your answer will be colored by
where you are now, what you want now, what you believe you need now. As your life evolves, sometimes those answers
evolve as well. In the gospel of Luke, Peter
thinks out loud about what he and the other disciples have given up, to be
followers of Jesus Christ. It picks up
in chapter 18 beginning in verse 28 saying … “Then Peter said, Lo, we have left
all, and followed thee.” From
Peter’s point of view, they had left everything, they had set aside everything,
perhaps even the laugh lines in his own wife’s eyes, in order to be with Jesus
every day and all the time. What more
could he offer. Jesus responds in verse
29 saying … “And he said unto them, Verily I say unto
you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or
children, for the kingdom of God's sake, [verse 30] Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and
in the world to come life everlasting.”
Wow that is some kind of promise. What we leave behind for the sake of the
Kingdom of God, we reap manifold more not only in life everlasting, but in this
world as well. This is not about
sacrificing one family for Christ and finding another one. This is about not allowing any family to keep
you from Christ, but by placing Christ first in your own heart, becoming
someone new, and learning how to love them in such a way as to lure then to
join you in His Kingdom. You may not
even see it. You may decidedly not even
notice it. But as you become someone new,
the impacts of love will radiate out from you as they never have before. You may become more patient than you have
ever been, more tender, more prone to smile or find humor where you have not
sought it before. The transformation in
who you are may not be something you see, but it may be something your family
cannot help but see. Your vision is
trained upon Him. But what your family
sees is something of a reflection of the very love of God. If your mission to the ones you love the most
succeeds, you become instrumental in leading them to the feet of Jesus. It is there they will begin their own journey
of transformation, reaping manifold results in both this world and the world to
come. That is a mission that is never
done, only better, and more important than any other. For what greater treasure could there be,
than the hearts of those we love the most?
But sometimes we fail to see what right in front of us. Luke continues in verse 31 saying … “Then he took
unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold,
we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets
concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. [verse 32] For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be
mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: [verse 33] And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the
third day he shall rise again. [verse 34] And they understood none of these
things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which
were spoken.” Jesus tells those
closest to Him, what is about to happen, what they are about to see. But the thought of the long awaited Messiah
meeting His end from the religious leadership, was more than their minds were
able to comprehend. The giant “E” was
right there at the top of the eye chart, Jesus had to die to save us. But like me, they could not see it, or
perhaps would not see it. Their vision
was clouded because what they wanted conflicted with what God needed, and in
truth what we really needed.
But the reality of death was not how this message ended, it
ended in the reality of a life after death.
Because of Jesus and what He did for us, this same truth is no less true
for us. But are we any more able to see
it than were our disciple forefather’s. If
our blindness prevents it, then consider what Jesus can do for our
blindness. Luke continues in verse 35
saying … “And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain
blind man sat by the way side begging: [verse 36] And hearing the multitude
pass by, he asked what it meant. [verse 37] And they told him, that Jesus of
Nazareth passeth by. [verse 38] And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have
mercy on me. [verse 39] And they which went before rebuked him, that he should
hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on
me.” This was a blind man, he was
physically blind, perhaps all his life, perhaps not. But what he could not see, he had heard
about. He saw what others did not. He saw Jesus as more than just a prophet but
instead as the living embodiment of the long awaited Messiah. And so the blind man knew what others may not
have. Jesus could fix him entirely. Jesus could open his eyes and make him see. Even if perhaps he already saw more than most
of us do.
Jesus responds picking up in verse 40 saying … “And Jesus
stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he
asked him, [verse 41] Saying, What wilt thou that
I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. [verse
42] And
Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy
faith hath saved thee. [verse 43] And immediately he received his sight, and
followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise
unto God.” In a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye the blind man had his eyesight restored. He was recreated in a second, able to see as
if sight had never been lost. But it was
the vision of the blind man that led to the restoration of his sight. The blind man already saw the Messiah, the
Son of God, before his eyes had caught up.
But Jesus does not leave us how we are.
He recreates us back into the image He had in mind. He restores what is broken in us. He opens our eyes, even when we think they
are working just fine. And can you
imagine how wonderful it was for this blind man to open his eyes and see the
Savior of all mankind, and of himself.
All those who were there praised God, probably none more loud than he
who was formerly blind.
So if the salvation and restoration of your life is as big
as the giant “E” at the top of the eye chart, are you able to see it? Or perhaps like me you know it is there, but
require correction to actually be able to see it. Or perhaps like this blind man of so great
faith, you knew it was there without any ability to do so. But our salvation remains a truth, as certain
as Jesus is our Truth. Perhaps because
my wife has seen it, the laugh lines near her eyes are something that has
caught the vision of my eyes and my heart.
Perhaps because Jesus is so close to her heart, there is laughter now,
where once there was not – and so I hear angels singing, and find treasure in a
reflection of His love that warms the core of who I am. Her mission to me will never be done. But because of it, I see the tangible
presence of God’s own love for me. Could
anything be more important than that? A
manifold reward in this life, well ahead of the next one. A lure to draw the entire family to the foot
of the cross. The gift of a submitted
heart now multiplied in a field of mission.
And I do see it, it is noticed, and is now the treasure of my soul.
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