Monday, November 14, 2011

Good Eyesight

I was reminded recently of the importance of good eyesight. I normally wear contacts which my ophthalmologist has formulated to allow me to see both things far away and read items close at hand. Somehow, I got a piece of dust under one of the contacts, creating a condition I can only describe as an icepick in the eye. If you have contacts, you know what I mean. If you don't, believe me, you don't know what I mean.

Because of the icepick in my eye, I was forced to wear my glasses for a day. I only bought single vision glasses (primarily because I am cheap) so I could see things far away clearly. Up close, things were in a complete fog. In the grand scheme of things, that's not a great problem, but when you are scheduled to preach in fifteen minutes, it's an issue. The verses in my bible looked like one giant ink smudge.

Fortunately I remembered – we have a copier that enlarges. Two minutes later, I had scriptures Mr. Magoo could read. The experience taught me an important lesson: we need to be the enlarging copier for our friends and neighbors. They can't see the extraordinary promises of God's word. We need to be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to use us like enlarging copiers, making God's promises visible to the world around us through our lives. They've got ice picks in their eyes, too.

Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.