Daily Devotionals

Devotional: July 23rd

Back in 1988 I had some problems seeing. One evening, while sitting in the family room of the Bellville Church of Christ parsonage, I asked my wife what time it was. She told me to look on the VCR. I told her I couldn't see the VCR. Two days later I was at the eye doctor being checked and fitted for glasses. The eye doctor kept trying to fit me with a pair of glasses that I would either have to take off or look over top of in order to see the congregation on Sunday mornings while preaching. He sighed and commented that I would have to have bifocals. "But isn't seeing well all the time my objective?" I asked.

How well we see is important. If things are blurred life is not as pleasant, although you may have some people that you'd rather not see all that clearly. Our sight is valuable for so many things that we do. The act of getting dressed in the mornings and shaving or putting on makeup is a sight-based function. Those who are blind have commented that these are the things that they struggle with the most to prepare so they can live as well as they can.

Sight is also important for recreational pursuits, or, in the case of professional athletes, your livelihood. Take the bizarre instance of Tiger Woods in the 2003 British Open. Right in front of thousands of spectators Tiger lost his ball in the rough off the very first tee. He triple bogied the hole and got off to such a horrendous start that he never recovered enough to win. Meanwhile a Toronto-based company named Visiball put out a press release boasting that "a $30 accessory could have saved Woods two strokes and put him high on opening-day leaderboard." Visiball makes glasses designed to filter light so it's easier to see lost balls.

Some of those on press row openly wondered if the crowd at the 2003 British Open even liked Woods. Perhaps that was the reason that they mystifyingly could not find his ball. Which is another issue of sight. What do we choose to see? Seeing is knowledge for we remember far more of what we see than of what we read or hear. We see other things in the world but how well do we see ourselves? How closely do we examine ourselves with our powers of observation?

"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known." 1 Corinthians 13:12 I am reminded of the words of an old drill Sargent. Frustrated with the way his men looked, he blurted out, "You should step out her and take a look at yourselves." Right now we see ourselves through the eyes of personal estimation, but some day we will know ourselves as God knows us, as the true people we are.

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