I’m not sure which is worse…to be nearsighted or farsighted. If you could only chose one, which would you choose? Would you rather see things up close with great crispness and clarity, or see things far away very, very clearly?
If we can’t see the things up close, we may have trouble with some of the details of life. We won’t be able to see the alarm clock, the details of people’s faces or the letters on a page. On the other hand, If we can’t see what is far away, we might miss out on some of the larger parts of life. We won’t see the exit sign until its too late and may not realize that a huge wave is about to crash into us on the beach.
One could ask the same question of the spiritual realm…would you rather see the things of this world with great crispness and clarity, or see eternal things very, very clearly? Would you rather be spiritually nearsighted or farsighted? If you could only choose ONE, which would you choose?
In a sense, Paul addressed this question in his letter to the Corinthians:
So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NLT)
Here is the deal. If we focus on what we can see now, we will very likely miss the eternal perspective. On the other hand, if we focus intently on the eternal things, the things that are seen will come into sharp focus. Here are two examples:
- Perhaps our marriage is not all we want it to be. We could focus all of our attention on the practical tools that might help ‘fix’ our marriage, including trying to change our spouse. Or, we could focus on our eternal relationship with God, seeking and doing His will with and for our spouse. If our eternal relationship with God is in focus, our temporal relationship with our spouse will be as well.
- Perhaps we are struggling in a job we don’t like or working for people we don’t like. We could focus on the struggle and complain about the people. Or, we could remember that while we are on that job we are acting as sub-contractors for God. We could focus on the fact that He has placed us there and that what we do while we are there will have an eternal impact.
If we are spiritually nearsighted, we will often be disappointed with the temporary things of this life. But if we are spiritually farsighted, our view of those temporary things will be seen with the perspective of eternity.
