Well, today Janet and I went for our annual eye exams. This is the one doctor’s appointment that we tend to do together, and I don’t know why, but it’s been that way for years now. And to be sure, the doc we see seems too young to even be in business, but he’s a great guy and so we usually engage in a short conversation during the exam. Even though Janet went in first, I was immediately ushered into another exam room and one of the nurses took me through the reading of the eye charts, the glaucoma test and several other things to check my peripheral vision. Apparently, I did okay with my glasses on, but to be sure, I can’t see the far wall without them.
On the other hand, Janet has 20/15 vision – better than normal. And where she is weak, I am strong. In other words, she wears reading glasses and I like to take my glasses off to do close work. In fact, I was able to read the smallest line of print, .5mm high, and the nurse laughed that the only thing that is good for is reading the Bible. I had the last laugh, telling her that the Bible is about the only book I do read.
She recommended that I get that surgery to correct my distance vision, but that would leave me with a permanent need for reading glasses. The truth of the matter is that I kind of like the fact that at almost 60 years of age, I can read the fine print without my glasses. And I really got a chuckle out of the fact that the smallest line of print today referenced the size of print the smallest print Bibles use – and that’s no joke.
Another thing – as long as I have to wear glasses, it might as well be for distance. There is something magical about watching the lights on the Christmas tree that look as big a snowballs when I sit across the room at night and look at the tree. And frankly, since I have to have glasses, they might as well be on my nose rather than worry about losing them in a case somewhere.
Another thing I have come to do over the years – when I take off my glasses off, I can kind of shut the world off – after all, I really can’t really see it anyway. And when I really am reading the Bible and want to concentrate on a devotional time God, it helps when I can cut out the clutter around me and just focus on the Father. That’s best accomplished by taking off my glasses and focusing on the small area around me that I can see. In fact, not to belabor the point, I really look forward to this ritual when I study. And it’s been that way for many years now – at least since I started seminary.
Now I want to remind you that you don’t want to be myopic, or nearsighted, when it comes to your focus on your eternal destiny. One just can’t stay cooped up in the present but we must be able to look far into the future and how eternity with Jesus is the goal we long for. Luckily, this is not something we see with our eyes, or I would be in trouble. Rather, we can see it with our hearts; and I’m here to tell you my heart has great long distance vision.
The verse for tonight comes from Phil 3:14, where Paul is reminding us to keep our eyes focused on the goal. That’s a great reminder for all of us. He tells us, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” My encouragement this evening is to keep focused on the future with your heavenly Father. My prayer is that you will make sure that you don’t let anything block your view and that every once in a while you check the eyes of your heart. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…