Our subject today is vision. Your eyes are a marvelous testimony of the ingenuity of our Creator. If you haven’t done so, take some time to investigate some of the marvels of one of the most intricate and wonderful parts of your body, your eyes.

For many years I had perfect (20/20) vision. But as I continued to age, I needed glasses with a corrective lens to enable me to read and see things up close more easily. Another change came and I now wear glasses to correct my vision at far, intermediate and close distances. This is the last step before I will have surgery to replace the lenses in both eyes to remove cataracts and correct most of my vision issues. I take care of my eyes in order to see correctly. 

Vision is important, physically and spiritually. I encourage you to take care of your eyes, protect them from injury and get the medical help you need for them to serve you well until you don’t need them any longer. In my research for this blog I came across some detailed information about the human eye that may interest you. Again, the more you learn about this fabulous invention, the greater your awe and appreciation for its Creator. Here’s the link https://www.umkelloggeye.org/conditions-treatments/anatomy-eye

The word vision is also used to describe a kind of “seeing” that is beyond  what we do with our eyes.  Think of all the ways this word is used to describe various aspects of sight. Companies, organizations, and individuals develop  “vision statements” to encompass their operating values and goals. This is how they see themselves working and how they want to be seen by others. One of my favorite companies is Chic-fil-A. When you read their vision statement you can see why their business is doing so well. Check it out https://www.chick-fil-a.com/careers/culture

The Chic-fil-A vision statement takes us to what I would call a “spiritual vision” of how they see life and want to run their their business. Spiritual vision is not a function of the physical eye but of a capacity to see the deeper meanings and purposes of life.

As a matter of fact, Jesus spoke about people who had eyes to see but did not see. Those to whom he referred were spiritually blind. Jesus often used the eye to illustrate the importance of having a clear or accurate understanding of the deeper, spiritual realities of life. In Revelation 3:17,  the lukewarm church at Laodicea is described as ” wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.” The church was actually rich but had forgotten God and lost the sense of wonder and thrill of belonging to Jesus. Their spiritual vision had been blinded by their entanglements in the world. By the way, this can happen to us also.  

What is spiritual vision about? It is how you “see” life. It involves such things as attitude, prejudice, selfishness, gentleness, honesty, faith, love, hope, and many other moral and spiritual qualities. Someone has said, “We don’t see life as it is, we see life as we are.” We bring our personal interpretation and perception to everything we do? You deal with your spouse, children, family, friends, and strangers based on your spiritual vision.

Spiritual vision, the way you “see” life, is what Jesus is referencing in this statement, “…if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”  Matthew 6:22-23.

Your spiritual vision has been formed through how you have interpreted your life experiences. Good for you if you have chosen to believe and act on some very healthy perspectives on life from parents, teachers and other authority figures. On the other hand, you may have been very stubborn and prideful and chose to learn some lessons “the hard way.” Have you interpreted life through the lens of  God’s Word? If not, where do you get your outlook on life?  

How is your spiritual vision? My ophthalmologist checks my vision by having me read four lines of different letters and symbols of different sizes. That is his standard to determine the accuracy of my vision.  Where do you go to have your spiritual vision checked and corrected? We need to go early and often to Jesus to correct our thinking. Go to His teaching, go to his actions and think about how you are to do life. Paul prescribes the cure for  prejudice, selfishness, and pride which can distort our thinking, “Have the attitude which Jesus had..” Read the entire prescription to fix your thinking in Philippians 4:4-8. 

I want my spiritual vision to be 20/20 don’t you? If I can see life as God does and understand what’s important to him, I can begin to use my time, money, and gifts to further his kingdom in this world. If we can see how life goes on in heaven under God’s perfect rule, perhaps we can do our part to make that happen it happen here also. Isn’t that what it means when we pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven?”