Last Sunday I got new glasses. My wife tells me they make me look “sexy.” Man, I love my wife. But as of now I am still trying to get use to the new glasses. I had to move into the wonderful world of progressive lenses. I’m near-sighted. With my old glasses I could see great far away but I had to take them off to read things up close. The eye doctor said I have 20/60 vision in left eye and 20/100 in my right eye. With my new specs, I should be 20/20 in both.
But for those of you who have progressive lenses or bifocals you realize that the first couple of weeks are really frustrating as you get use to them and as your brain adapts to them. Right now I have to think about if I should look out the top of the lenses or the bottom of them. My peripheral vision is always blurred. I’m told that this is the way it is supposed to be at first and that in time my brain will definitely adjust. I sure hope that happens real soon.
But it reminds me about a passage in 2 Peter. I have been really pouring into the second letter written by Peter lately because beginning May 16th, after our Face Your Fears series that starts on Easter, I will take 7 weeks to preach verse by verse through the book of 2 Peter. I have been enjoying studying this great book that deals with how to handle false teachers and false teaching.
In chapter one, Peter begins by telling us that if we are going to stand firm against false teaching we must be growing spiritually. In verses 3-4, he tells us that God has given to us the power and the promises we need to do just this. He then tells us in verses 5-7 that we need to give great energy to adding seven characteristics to our faith. These include moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.
In verse 8 we learn that if we possess these qualities in increasing manner we will not be useless or unfruitful in our spiritual lives. But according to verse 9, if we fail to do all that we can to add these qualities to our faith it is a different story. Verse 9 says this, “For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.”
In other words, if I don’t make the effort to add these qualities to my faith I become spiritually handicapped. It is like being blind or short-sighted. Without these qualities growing in my life I do not know where I am going spiritually nor do I know what next step I should take. Adding these qualities to our faith, through the power and promises God has given us, is like putting on our new glasses. Spiritually, it allows us to have 20/20 vision. We will then be able to know what next steps to take in our walk with the Lord. We will also be able to spot false teaching.
Right now I am having to put all of my mental energies into persevering through getting use to my new glasses. At times I just want to rip them off of my face and go back to my old ones. But I know that if I am going to see clearly I need to add these new lenses to my physical life. The same is true of my vision when it comes to spiritual things. I need to add these seven qualities, these seven lenses, to my life on a daily basis to be able see spiritually.
And I bet these spiritual lenses make me look “sexy” to my wife as well!
But for those of you who have progressive lenses or bifocals you realize that the first couple of weeks are really frustrating as you get use to them and as your brain adapts to them. Right now I have to think about if I should look out the top of the lenses or the bottom of them. My peripheral vision is always blurred. I’m told that this is the way it is supposed to be at first and that in time my brain will definitely adjust. I sure hope that happens real soon.
But it reminds me about a passage in 2 Peter. I have been really pouring into the second letter written by Peter lately because beginning May 16th, after our Face Your Fears series that starts on Easter, I will take 7 weeks to preach verse by verse through the book of 2 Peter. I have been enjoying studying this great book that deals with how to handle false teachers and false teaching.
In chapter one, Peter begins by telling us that if we are going to stand firm against false teaching we must be growing spiritually. In verses 3-4, he tells us that God has given to us the power and the promises we need to do just this. He then tells us in verses 5-7 that we need to give great energy to adding seven characteristics to our faith. These include moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.
In verse 8 we learn that if we possess these qualities in increasing manner we will not be useless or unfruitful in our spiritual lives. But according to verse 9, if we fail to do all that we can to add these qualities to our faith it is a different story. Verse 9 says this, “For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.”
In other words, if I don’t make the effort to add these qualities to my faith I become spiritually handicapped. It is like being blind or short-sighted. Without these qualities growing in my life I do not know where I am going spiritually nor do I know what next step I should take. Adding these qualities to our faith, through the power and promises God has given us, is like putting on our new glasses. Spiritually, it allows us to have 20/20 vision. We will then be able to know what next steps to take in our walk with the Lord. We will also be able to spot false teaching.
Right now I am having to put all of my mental energies into persevering through getting use to my new glasses. At times I just want to rip them off of my face and go back to my old ones. But I know that if I am going to see clearly I need to add these new lenses to my physical life. The same is true of my vision when it comes to spiritual things. I need to add these seven qualities, these seven lenses, to my life on a daily basis to be able see spiritually.
And I bet these spiritual lenses make me look “sexy” to my wife as well!
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