Does anybody wear glasses out there? I do. I used to wear contacts and I got tired of poking my fingers in my eyes every morning and night. So I switched to glasses and I still like them. What fascinates me with glasses is how dirty the lenses can get. Even if you clean them, five minutes later they have some kind of smudge on them. Having smudged up glasses tends to make people look at you funny, I’ve noticed.
I’ve noticed that because I’m terrible at keeping my glasses clean. They’re always smudged or dusty or spattered and I have no idea how to keep them from getting that way because I don’t know how it happens. So I am in the habit of cleaning my lenses with the hem of my shirt . . . which probably hurts the lenses but it gets the spots off them so people don’t look at me like I’m an uber-nerd who lives in my parents’ basement . . . . even though I basically am.
The other thing that happens when you have dirty glasses is that people appear distorted. All it takes is an oily fingerprint on your lens and it makes you wonder what happened to your coworker’s makeup. In actuality, your coworker looks perfectly fine; it’s your glasses that are the problem.
It’s funny how your focus can alter everything in your life. Whatever you focus on determines how you will react to problems and circumstances and situations you don’t expect.
If you focus on how little money you make, you’ll be selfish. If you focus on a lack of privileges, you’ll try to get away with the least possible amount of work. If you focus on uncertainty, you’ll never do anything courageous. If (and maybe this is just me) you focus on the foods you can’t eat, you’ll eat them all the time.
Your focus determines a lot about how you live your life.
The verse for this morning is 1 Peter 1:13, and coming from Peter it’s quite a doozy:
13 So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.
That particular line, “Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you” is really what caught my heart this morning.
How many of us are looking forward to our next raise? How many of us are looking forward to a vacation? How many of us are looking forward to the next day when it’s admissable to eat foods that make us tired and cranky so we can have a chocolate bar? (that may just be me again . . . lol)
As believers, we need to look forward to Christ’s return. We need to keep our focus on living like Jesus did and enjoying the awesome benefits of being a member of God’s family. Can’t you imagine how wonderful it will be when Jesus comes back? At NewSpring’s First Wednesday service last night, we sang the song, “You Hold Me Now.”
No weeping
No hurt or pain
No suffering
You hold me now
You hold me now
No darkness
No sick or lame
No hiding
You hold me now
You hold me now
That’s what it will be. Can you imagine a world like that? A life like that? Knowing that such a beautiful existence is waiting for us on the other side of this dark broken world makes a lot of what we’re going through now totally worth it. Where we don’t have to endure suffering or hardship or pain or suffering or darkness or sickness. And where Jesus will be there every moment of every day and we can talk to Him and know Him face to face.
That’s what I’m looking forward to.
So that’s my challenge for today is to keep looking forward to that, to keep my focus on what really matters. Him. And that will entail keeping my glasses clean, even if it’s with the hem of my shirt.
Always Peachy 