Thursday, September 22, 2011

Lazy Eye

I am working for an optomitrist, and I've heard him talk to patients about having a lazy eye.
A lazy eye is one that wanders- never fixing or focusing upon one thing for very long. Medically speaking, it's usually not a big deal, but if we take the leap into the spiritual realm, it's a deadly condition.

 While our lazy eye may not be fixed on anything evil, it is neither fixed on anything holy and is therefore vulnerable to Satan's ability to draw us gently, subtly, sometimes without our even realizing it, toward our destruction.

The Great Physician has the cure of course, which is simple yet requires great effort and discipline to apply.
 Paul says to "run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus". Literally that is: "fixing  your eyes upon Jesus".       
  GET FOCUSED! 

 It's one of those laws of nature I guess, that when you are in motion, walking or driving, you begin to move in the direction in which you are looking. A runner who is competing is taught to keep his eye on the road ahead, not to look to the left or to the right. When I take a walk I'm always looking at the flowers, trees and shrubs in the neighborhood and inevitably I end up on the lawn, smelling the flower that drew my eye- my feet don't seem to have any say in the matter! I am drawn.

The rest of Paul's statement in Hebrews says "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him . . .  endured."

Just this morning, during my shower, my mind began to wander frantically about, worrying about everything I could find to worry about. I stopped, and literally looked intently at the wall and remembered: "fix your eyes upon Jesus."  The stressing stopped, the focus resumed, the blood pressure dropped!  I'll have to refocus throughout my entire day. That's ok. I know where to focus, and on whom to focus.
For this precious gift I am eternally grateful.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The one talent man

The parable of the talents has always made me . . . nervous.

Heard a great sermon on it recently.  The point was made that the one talent man was afraid of his master and reacted to his fear by choosing to preserve his life, i.e. stay healthy, safe, comfortable, well-insured. This seems to be an especially great tendency when we're in pain- just curl up in a safe corner. But God didn't give us life to hold onto; he gave us life to give life!

I need to TRUST that God knows me and what I can handle and then find my life's purpose, which always involves service and souls.
We are promised that if we abide in Him we will produce fruit. That's what the master expected-

Productivity. Not preservation.

Come to think about it, preservation is what HE is all about!