Nearsight and Farsight
2 Peter 1:9 – But concerning the one who lacks such things – he is blind. That is to say, he is nearsighted, since he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins. 10 – Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to be sure of your calling and election. For by doing this you will never stumble into sin. 11 – For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided for you.
I’ve been wearing glasses for a long time now. Almost 50 years! I tried wearing contact lenses for a short time while I was in college but I gave up on it and went back to wearing glasses. What I have is myopia or nearsightedness. Things are naturally in focus for me when they’re really close to my eyes. Reading books with fine print always requires me to take my glasses off in order to read. You can tell when someone wearing glasses is very nearsighted because their eyes look smaller than normal through the lenses.
My Grandpa, Pastor V. Garfield Newman was my Mum’s Dad. He was farsighted. Things were naturally in focus for him at a distance, so he needed glasses to put things that were near to him in focus. When I was little I always thought he looked funny when he wore glasses because they made his eyes look bigger than normal.
According to Peter in this letter, there are those who are spiritually nearsighted. Their sins are always in focus, they forget they’ve been cleansed and they keep stumbling back into sin. They keep forgetting about Jesus and what He did for them when He died on the cross! You know, without my glasses, I stumble very easily. It’s the same in life. Without daily making the effort to know Jesus in Bible Study and prayer, I’ll keep focusing on my sins and forget about my calling and my election into the family of God.
Be farsighted. The eternal kingdom may seem like it’s too far away to see – so far that it doesn’t even exist. Allow Jesus to bring it into focus. We will all look funny to others, wearing the glasses of the gospel. The Bible says that “the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” – 1 Corinthians 1:18. The gospel of Jesus Christ looks crazy to those who are accustomed to being nearsighted, always focusing on their sin.
Let’s keep the eternal kingdom in focus! Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah..”all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth. For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland, a better land, that is, a heavenly one. – Hebrews 11:13,14,16.
Let’s make it clear to everyone around us that we are seeking the heavenly homeland too!
Where two are gathered 