By Joe Chesser If you look very
carefully, I’m sure you can see it.
For some it will be more difficult than for others, but anyone who
really tries can see it. For example,
pick up a flower and look closely at the details. What do you see – petals and stems;
intricate design; vivid colors? Sure,
but what else do you see? Look closely
at the night sky. What do you see –
twinkling lights, stars, patterns? Sure, but what else do you see? And look
closely into the face of a child. What
do you see – innocence, purity, the future?
Certainly, but what else do you see? This world our God has
created for us to enjoy is filled with marvelous things to see – gently
flowing rivers, white-capped mountains, lush forests, amazing wildlife, and
even in its own way, beautiful deserts.
After creating what we can see around us, and even much more which we
cannot possibly see, God looked at all His creation and said, “it was very
good” (Genesis 1:31). I’d have to
agree, wouldn’t you? Who doesn’t enjoy
just looking at sunsets and stars and seas? As beautiful as these
things are in their own right, however, when we learn to see as God sees, the
importance of all this natural beauty begins to fade into the
background. In the flower you can see
more than natural beauty, you can see a God who cares about beauty and
delicacy. In the night sky you can see
more than innumerable stars, you can see a God who has no limit to His vision
and power and control. In a child you
can see more than God’s greatest creation, you can see the very likeness of
God Himself. In these common, everyday
things that most people just take for granted, we can minds can be opened to
see “his eternal power and divine nature” (Romans 1:20). The same principle is applicable to spiritual things. When some look at faith, what they see is a “step” in God’s plan of salvation, or one result of reading the Bible (Mark 16:16, Romans 10:17). When some think of baptism, they may only see another “step” in becoming a Christian (Acts 2:38-41). Or some may only see prayer as an “item” of worship or as a means of getting help (Acts 2:42, Matthew 6:11). While all of these are true and beautiful within themselves, when a Christian grows to the point of understanding these things more from the perspective of God, they become much more valuable. No longer are they just a means to an end or a command to be obeyed; now, they are depictions of a lifestyle patterned after God. Faith describes how Christians are to live day by day (2 Cor. 5:7), a life focused on God and dependent on Him for guidance (and not ourselves). Baptism is not only the means of contacting the blood of Jesus for salvation (Rom. 6:3-4), it is also a reminder of a new birth that is committed to a lifetime of dying to self and depending on the blood of Jesus every day (John 3:5, Luke 9:23, 1 John 1:7). And prayer is not just something Christians should do once in a while, but is actually a lifetime of continuous communication with God (1 Thess. 5:17). Seeing as God sees opens our minds to so much more than we can possibly imagine (Ephesians 3.20-21). |
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