How Do You See Things?

When is the last time you just stopped, looked around and thanked God for all the blessings in your life?  I had an opportunity to do that very thing earlier this morning.  After I poured myself a steaming hot cup of Folgers “Simply Gourmet” Natural Caramel coffee, I stepped out onto the front porch.  Once outside I walked to the very end of our veranda and leaned against the railing the runs next to the driveway.  From there I quietly gazed due west across the vast lawn to the tall maple and pines that line our property.  Since I had mowed, swept and trimmed the lawn yesterday, everything looked well-manicured and orderly.

While one bird called out from the tree to my left and another seemed to answer from a neighbor’s yard, I stood amazed at what I saw before my eyes.  I am not sure how many times over the last almost two years that I have stood in that same spot and have been overwhelmed with the goodness of God to Piper and I.  In the solitude of the moment, all I could do is utter words of thanksgiving to our heavenly Father for this wonderful place that He saw fit to lead us to.  All I could see at that time was the blessings of God.

It didn’t matter that my wife and I have been going through the toughest, gut wrenching battle in our lives with the attack on her health, at that moment in history, all I could see was how good God is!  It was like I put on a special pair of glasses that filter every trial and tribulation out and I was seeing through the eyes of the Creator of the universe.  And WOW… what a view it was!

Lately I have been studying a verse that is probably very familiar to most Christians from 2 Corinthians 5:7.  My favorite God’s Word © translation puts it this way, saying: “Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence.”  I was actually led to that verse after hearing a song on the Sirius Southern Gospel channel “enLighten.”  And while I do not remember the artists, I do recall one line that kept repeating: “I’m just an old sinner saved by grace.” ♫

Please don’t take this wrong, but every time I hear that saying it tends to turn my stomach, because it is utterly untrue!  I think some folks believe that it is a very humble statement for a Christian to make, but according to 2 Corinthians 5:7 that is NOT the way God sees us once we become born again!  That scripture makes it VERY CLEAR that an “Old Sinner” is what we USED to be!  NOW, WE ARE A NEW CREATION and all the “Old Sinner” stuff has disappeared!

The Message Bible declares that “The old life if gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!”  From my understanding of the Word, when it says to “Look at it!” we should now look at our new lives from God’s point of view!  It would be similar to the way I looked around our property this morning… through the eyes of the goodness of God!  Adam Clarke in his “Commentary on the Bible” explains that “The man is not only mended, but he is new made; he is a new creature… He formerly had his portion in this life, and lived for this world alone; he now hath God for his portion, and he looks not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are eternal. Therefore, old things are passed away.”

That description of our New Creation Life in Christ makes it pretty clear that in this New Life, we are to be looking at things that are eternal - like God and His Word - as the new standard by which we not only live our daily existence, but as the ultimate truth in each and every situation we face!  So, with that in mind, I have to ask again:

How do you see things in this New Life?  By the way it used to be, or through the new eyes of faith?  Which do you think is more exciting… the old tried and has been?  Or, the New, freshness of Papa God and the creative, dynamic, life-changing, power of His Word?

You know, this is something that I have to face every day whenever my wife and I go out.  I see it in the faces of just about everyone we pass.  Many take one look at her and it is immediately obvious how they see things – through the eyes of worldly despair and hopelessness.  But occasionally, we see something different.  A smile and a certain brightness in the eyes of one who sees things according to the truth and expectation of God’s Word.  Believe me when I say that those are the people that we want to be around!

So which are you?  As His New Creation, I believe God is calling us to see things differently.  To be a light, a hope and an encouragement in other people’s lives!  Have a great rest of the week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… How am I expecting to look at my world today?”