“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56).
ABRAHAM “SAW” THE DAY WHEN THE MESSIAH WOULD COME, A DAY THAT WAS, FOR HIM, IN THE FAR DISTANT FUTURE. He also saw heaven: “he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10). So Abraham, like all people of faith and spiritual maturity, was a person of vision. He rejoiced to “see” many things that others close their “eyes” to.
What we ought to do. If all a person can see is the status quo, he will never rise above it, and unfortunately, that is about all most people can see (or at least all they make the effort to see). What “is” can be seen by nearly anybody, but what “ought to be” takes extra vision. It is only by perceiving invisible truths and principles that we come to understand what our obligations are.
What we ought to hope for. The external appearances of present reality can be very discouraging, and those who can see only what is happening at the present moment are often prone to depression. We have to discipline ourselves and develop our vision to look outside of ourselves and our private discouragements. If we have the eyes to see, there are great and wonderful things to hope for.
What we ought to believe. The Jewish patriarchs were people who could see, by faith, the reality of some things that had not yet arrived. “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13). The vision of faith is the best vision of all!
We don’t think about our vision often enough, and when we do think about it, we often restrict it to things of a worldly nature. In business, we may have a vision of how much our company could grow. At home, we may visualize the dream house that we’d like to build. But what about matters of the heart and the spirit? When you look at your own inner person, do you see what you could be as well as what you are? When you look at your relationship with God, do you see only problems or can you also see some possibilities? When you look at your private heart, what can you see?
“Vision looks inward and becomes a duty. Vision looks outward and becomes aspiration. Vision looks upward and becomes faith” (Stephen Samuel Wise).
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
