You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5: 14-16

When your eyeball is too long, relative to the focusing power of the cornea and lens of the eye, you have a condition called MYOPIA . This causes light rays to focus at a point in front of the retina, rather than directly on its surface. Most people call it “NEARSIGHTED”. And it’s a condition that affects roughly 25% of the world’s population. I have had this condition since early childhood.
 
I got my first pair of glasses in 2^nd Grade at Brown Elementary School. Calling them glasses is kind. They were really “Coke Bottles” in a frame. And of course, they were the Buddy Holly’s…and I broke them constantly…so there was always some form of tape on them, to keep them on my face! But I’m very thankful I had them, because without them, I couldn’t see the chalkboard. (Actually, without them…I really couldn’t even see the school building!)
 
Glasses through the years have been through MANY changes! In Jane Austen England, men would use a “Longnette”- which were glasses on a stick. If you grew up watching “Hogan’s Heroes”, you’d know that Colonel Klink wore a monacle. And later, so did Mr. Peanut! Many graduate on to contacts or even Lasik or Cataract surgery to help their vision. The point of all of these is this: optical devices make things CLEARER.
 
After reading that familiar passage at the top of this article from “The Sermon on the Mount”, I was struck with this thought: What if YOU are the glasses for someone else?Go re-read vs. 16-“that they may SEE YOUR GOOD DEEDS, and glorify your Father in Heaven.” What if someone uses YOU to see HIM?
 
Last week, we discussed having a “Godly View of Pain” in our sermon series, “Renovation of the Heart.” We will conclude the series THIS weekend by discussing a “Godly View of Waiting”. But in this study, I’m really challenged that maybe what we are going through is not really even for US! Perhaps, it’s to point someone ELSE towards Him? Maybe your endurance through hard times…maybe you just being at church and singing when everything hurts, helps someone else to see how serious a Faith Walk really is?
 
I want to encourage you if you are suffering right now that God is FOR YOU! He SEES you!! But I also believe that OTHER people see you…and that’s a GOOD thing! Don’t give up! Don’t take your eyes of off our Savior…because OTHERS will see that in you! And perhaps it will make them want THAT!

“SHINE HIS LIGHT” to our world…shine HIS hope and HIS goodness! Let people see THAT more than our rants on Facebook or complaints about the heat or the shutdown! Don’t let “NEARSIGHTEDNESS” affect your walk with Christ-don’t see only what’s in FRONT of you! See HIM working IN YOU…and then He will work THROUGH you!
 
May His Peace…and His Clarity shine through you today!
Shalom,
Don