Nov
27
2012
Sin Tainted Glasses
Posted in Faith 2 Comments
There is usually a candle burning in my kitchen.
One of my favorite scents is Country Store.
It really does smell like its name.
Cinnamon, allspice…wonderful kitchen smells.
I usually burn one large candle a month.
After we decorated for Christmas, I realized I never bought my Christmas candle.
Christmas Tree scent…with a bit of balsam…perfect for this time of year.
How I enjoy going to my favorite country store.
Whimsical items, wooden bowls and plates, tin-ware.
Berry garland, berry wreaths, homespun material, stoneware.
My kind of place.
As I was getting ready to purchase my candles, I saw a wooden sign.
I read the words…
Lord Jesus, please help me to see others through Your eyes.
There it was…one sign…resting against a cupboard.
I was not in the market for a sign…but this one called to me.
Do you ever have a day when you just don’t like your heart?
Days when your heart feels a bit cynical…cold…indifferent.
Even believers in Jesus have trouble with their hearts.
The sin nature that is in all of us wants what we want…when we want it.
There is a battle going on between the old heart and the new heart.
That is a battle that will continue to be fought this side of heaven.
The sign called to me because I need those words as a reminder.
We see others through sin tainted glasses.
We see their faults and their annoying habits.
We see their shortcomings and their mistakes.
We may never say a word about what we see…but we play the tape in our mind.
We recall each and every infraction that someone did to us.
We would have done it better…we think…self-righteously.
Sin tainted glasses.
Cynical hearts.
Hypocrisy.
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct; according to what his deeds deserve. (Jeremiah 17:9,10)
What if we looked at ourselves through the same glasses we use to look at others?
Would we be as critical?
Or would we go easy on ourselves and make excuses for our behavior?
What if we measured our conduct by the same standards we use on others.
We wouldn’t like it very much.
David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercy is great; but do not let us fall into the hands of men. (2 Samuel 24:14)
David was very wise.
He knew that men could only give a faulty assessment.
Only God sees things clearly…purely…justly.
Did you ever watch a child draw a picture?
They know exactly what they are drawing.
They finish and hand the masterpiece to you.
Do you like it?
You do…but you don’t know what IT is!
You begin to make guesses…Oh, I see…
The guesses are usually wrong.
By now the child is getting quite frustrated.
Tell me about your picture...you say diplomatically.
The child begins to give an elaborate explanation of the picture he created.
Suddenly, with the explanation, you begin to see what you couldn’t see before.
You had to see the masterpiece through the eyes of the artist.
I have to see the Masterpiece through the eyes of the Artist.
Can you imagine the elaborate details God includes in His Masterpiece?
We, with our faulty assessment, cannot possibly understand God’s Masterpiece.
Suddenly, when we look at the Masterpiece through His eyes…we begin to see.
Really see.
The faults, annoying habits, shortcomings, and mistakes are ours.
We bring that baggage to our assessment.
How can we possibly see through all of that?
Our vision is muddled.
They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When He had spit on the man’s eyes and put His hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”
He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
Once more Jesus put His hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. (Mark 8:22-25)
There is nothing wrong with Jesus’ ability to heal the blind man.
Jesus is able to heal the blind man’s eyes the first time He touched him.
The fact that the man saw people looking like trees was a reflection of the man.
It is, in fact, a reflection of us.
We have gradual sight.
Seeing everything clearly takes time.
In order to see everything clearly, we need Jesus’ intervention.
We need Jesus.
Lord Jesus, please help me to see others through Your eyes.
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.– I like the KJV also: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desparately wicked: who can know it?. There’s a place for both– one points out the hopelessness of our condition w/o Christ– the other the horror of the condition itself. Interestingly,both versions start out the same diagnosis of the heart: deceitfulness. How hard for the unregenerate to admit to it, but how thankful the Christian is for our Lord’s forgiveness.
Janna,
Thank you for including the KJV version of this verse.
The nuances of the various versions makes the verse that much fuller and richer.
Diagnosis and remedy…in Christ alone!
Thank you for the reminder.
Gina