Day 8 – A Walk through Creation

Thursday / A New Way to See

Read                   Matt 6: 22-23 (NLT)

“Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

Think        

When I finally got new glasses, after a  few years of struggling to see the world through lenses that were too weak, I thought the world was in High Definition.  The edges of things were all clear and crisp.  But since my new lenses are “Progressives”—that is, new style bi-focals—I couldn’t just turn my eyes and see everything clearly as I used to.  In order to be looking through the right part of the lens, I had to turn my head and point my nose at what I wanted to see.  I had to learn a new way of looking.  It took about a week, but by practice, I learned to point my nose where I wanted to see clearly, rather than turning my eyes and getting only a blur.

Jesus wants me to learn a new way to see the world, too.  He doesn’t want me to turn my eyes to the darkness and see only blurry shadows–like trying to look at the world through a dirty window.  He wants me to point my nose toward him and look at good things–the things of God—so that my life will be filled with light. I need to learn to see clearly so that the light within me is not darkness. 

Pray

Creator of light and darkness remember me in the light of your unfailing love.  Remember, Lord, how you’ve shown compassion and unfailing love to me all my life. Please don’t remember my sins, merciful Lord.  Oh God, you alone are good and do what’s right.  Show me the path you want me to walk, a path that leads out of the darkness into your true light. Amen.

Do

If you own a pair of binoculars take them out of storage and go to a new place.  It could be a park or a shopping mall or a cathedral or a library.  Anywhere is fine as long as it’s new to you.  Then take a look around you, try to see something you haven’t really looked at before.  How different do things look through the lens of the binoculars?

If you don’t own binoculars, do a little research online to find a lookout place that’s nearby.  This could be an overlook at a local park or a high point along a mountain ridge.  There are even overlook spots along many roadways.  Then get yourself there and take a few moments to look out over the valley or view before you. A change in perspective can give new direction for many things in your life.