Lens of Perspective
- The Narrow Path
- Apr 28, 2023
- 3 min read
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved (Romans 10:9-10, NIV).
I’ve been shopping for new glasses recently. I have a pair that I like, but my vision is pretty poor without them so it never hurts to have a spare. I was young, around 5th grade, when I first needed glasses. I remember telling my Mom I was having difficulty seeing the sports scores while watching ESPN. If you know me, that’s a big problem!
Although I don’t really recall many details about the eye doctor visit, I distinctly remember the moment when things at a distance were brought into clarity. My new lenses provided a new perspective. Those initial few weeks I remember sliding my glasses up and down off my face just to compare the difference in what, and how, I was seeing things at a distance in the world around me.
If you’re in the bad vision club, you know exactly what I’m talking about. As a middle schooler, I didn’t love how the glasses made me look to the outside world, but the clarity it brought was worth whatever judgment came from others. (For the record, most everyone was very kind.)
As an adult who has been walking closely with the Lord for a number of years now, I can attest that saying yes to a personal relationship with Jesus was much like the moment I put those glasses on for the first time. It created a perspective change in my life.
In the months following that commitment, my outward appearance didn’t immediately change much. It was a slow process of healing that began from the inside out. However, just as the glasses did for my vision, my relationship with Jesus began to bring clarity to my life in ways I’d never known before.
The thing about glasses is they always get dirty. When I wear mine to work, I probably have to clean the lenses ten times in a day in order to maintain the clarity they provide. It’s always crazy to be how quickly they get that way! It drives me crazy, but each time I pause to clean the lenses, I’m glad I did because it quickly brings things back into focus.
I think living a life in relationship with Jesus is like that, too, sometimes. There are lots of things in life that are competing for our vision and focus. We can quickly get caught up in “keeping up with the Joneses”, we fall into the trap of performance and comparison, we allow social media to define our progress in life and tell us if we’re where we’re supposed to be.
That’s exactly why we have to make the choice to continually return to the foot of the cross. Take your thoughts to Jesus, pour out your heart to Him, and allow His love to be what defines you. Just as I have to clean my glasses multiple times a day, I hope you find yourself returning to the cross as often as necessary to regain the clarity that living a life with Jesus provides.
For those with 20/20 vision, you may never comprehend the clarity that comes when you slip on a pair of glasses for the first time. But anyone can say yes to a relationship with Jesus. If you’re tired of living with “blurred vision” I want to encourage you today to read Romans 10:9-10. If you believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, then pray this simple prayer aloud and prepare to begin living your life like you just bought your first pair of glasses.
I believe, with all my heart, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and that He died on the cross to save me. I choose to trust Him and to follow Him as my Lord and my Savior. Help me to trust and follow you. Help me to have clear vision in my life. In Jesus name, Amen.
Comments