Seeing Things Clearly

As a kid the only glasses I wore were sunglasses.  At a point it became clear to me my eyesight had degraded when I could not effortlessly read street signs, number plates, or small print on a page.  After I was fitted with corrective lenses reading became easier, but I didn't always wear them.  Now when my glasses are away from the table or chair I will stand up to retrieve them rather than muddle through reading because they make a noticeable difference.

People who already have glasses occasionally have their eyes checked because as the ability of eyes to focus continues to degrade the prescription changes.  There is a two-fold lesson for the child of God here, for we too need correction from God's word concerning our beliefs and the way we live our lives.  Whether we are taking steps of faith or beginning to backslide, lessons from scripture will target areas of our lives where improvement and change is needed.  The second lesson is we need to appropriate God's truth by putting it into practice, just like I need to wear glasses for them to be practically useful.

The realisation I was not seeing clearly prompted me to visit the optometrist to have my eyes checked, and the Holy Spirit uses our conscience to prompt us to personally take to heart the wisdom in God's word that corrects and instructs us.  One thing I often need to do is clean my glasses because I inadvertently smudge them throughout the day.  The glasses which help me see clearly at a point can became a hindrance rather than a help, and the same can be true concerning our conscience.  The Holy Spirit is always perfect and good but our conscience can become weak, defiled and seared.  The scripture rightly wielded by the Spirit is like a clean mircofibre cloth which polishes up the easily smeared lens of our conscience.

Psalm 119:103-105 reads, "How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! ¹⁰⁴ Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. ¹⁰⁵ Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."  Honey is sweet to our taste, and God's word is sweet to His children.  Corrective lenses benefit greatly those who wear them yet are worthless in the dark!  Jesus is the Light of the World who enlightens us from within, and the Bible is a lamp to our feet and light to our path.  Knowing we need God's guidance, correction and wisdom is a necessary first step, and the second is to put into practice what God has said.  I would not know honey was sweet except I tasted it, and we will not realise the sweetness of God's word until we believe and follow it.