“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” Psalm 139:13-14
Everyone in my family, except my brother, has to wear reading glasses. Our vision is good, but it’s hard to make out words, details of objects, so reading glasses are essential for us.
I know you’re thinking, “Why are you talking about glasses?”
Well, one time I asked my dad if I could wear his glasses just to see what I could possibly see with them on. Once I put them on, anything or anyone I saw from a distance blurred. I couldn’t make out much from a distance, but I could see whatever or whomever was in front of me. After I took off them off, my dad stated an analogy of his: “Everything far off is blurred ’cause the future doesn’t matter yet. God wants us to enjoy the present; everything right in front of us.”
I’ve thought back to his analogy, and love it, but also see it from a different perspective. Paul wrote in Philippians 3:8, “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Intense, isn’t it? When he says everything, he’s serious.
Everything.
So, what is considered worthless in life?
Money.
Popularity.
Vanity.
These things are only temporary in life. They will eventually fade and leave us offering us less than what we anticipated of them. These things are considered worthless in comparison to Christ Jesus who is so much more worth it.
So, I propose an analogy: those worthless, temporary things? They blur in comparison to who we see in front of us. Jesus.
We need to keep our eyes fixed and focused on him, the center of our vision.
“But I can’t actually see him!”
Have you ever noticed the sunrises? The sunsets? Have you ever taken a closer look at their colors, the layout of the clouds, and the rays of the sun? I find them so magnificent! They leave me in awe! So much so that I’ve thought to myself, “They aren’t an accident.” I mean, how could they possibly be? They are a reflection of God’s majesty and beauty. It’s as if the sky is a canvas, and he’s brushed the sky with colors of orange, pink, and blue. Finally, there is a painting for us to enjoy. We just need to actually look up.