The print was getting to hard to read. I'd stand on stage with my thinline Bible and try to read the scripture. It was almost embarrassing as I stumbled through the words. I switched to my larger print Bible, but after speaking for five services a Sunday, my arm got so sore holding it up. I'd be getting cramps in my arm by the last service. You try holding out 5 lbs for 3 and 1/2 hours a day.
I finally broke down and bought a cheap pair of reading glasses. Unfortunately, before I could wear them "in the pulpit" one of my girls knocked them off the kitchen bar and stepped on them when she went to pick them up. She inadvertently broke off an ear piece. Being the cheapskate I am, I wore them anyway with only one ear piece. Needless to say, the audience that Sunday had a good laugh at my expense. In the crowd that day, my now eye doctor met me at the door informing me of my appointment with her the next day.
After my eye test, she said to me, "As we mature (words not normally directed at me) our vision sometimes deteriorates." "Let's try some corrective lenses to get you seeing clearly again," were the next words from her lips. Corrective lenses? Seeing clearly? My experience in the eye doctors office opened my eyes in more than one way. Not only was I able to read God's Word more clearly, I could see God's will more clearly as well.
As we mature in Christ or the longer we hang with only "church" people, the dimmer our vision gets toward the needs of people around us every day. It's not that we're completely blind, it's that everything gets a little blurred. We are so involved in living our own life, fulfilling our "church duties or responsibilities" that we lose sight of the needs of people in the world.
In my quest to be "spiritual," I cannot ignore the needs of people who are struggling through life right next to me. It's important to keep my eyes on Jesus, to celebrate personally and corporately in praise and worship and to dig into God's Word. However, Jesus calls me out of my pew, out of my Bible study, out of my prayer closet, out of my rich fellowship to the "harvest field." In a parallel passage Jesus says, "Lift up your eyes...." In other words, "take a look around, see what I'm seeing. Can't you see how great the needs are? We need more people making a difference in the lives of their neighbors and communities."
God, I need constant vision correction. Help me to see with your eyes, to feel with your heart, to act with your passion. Give me the wisdom and insight and strength to work in your field.
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