Seeing with Different Eyes - Martin Wiles

Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here.” Luke 7:44 NLT

I put them on, hoping I’d be able to see … but I couldn’t.

Glasses I was accustomed to. I’d had them since I turned ten. Through the years, my vision had deteriorated. As I neared forty, not only could I not see far away, which was my first vision issue, but I also now couldn’t see close up, which I’d always been able to do.

Walking in a retail store one day, I decided to try on the strongest pair of reading glasses they carried, thinking this might help. No luck. Things were still blurry. I knew my next step was bifocals. The doctor had already warned me. I was simply trying to avoid the inevitable.

I made an eye appointment and told the optometrist I was ready. After the technicians readied my glasses and I put them on, I was astounded at how clearly I could see. 

Simon the Pharisee had a vision problem also, but it had nothing to do with defective eyes. His related to attitudes, ingrained prejudices, and religious traditions. As Jesus dined with him for dinner, an immoral woman intruded, poured perfume and tears on Jesus’ feet, and then wiped Jesus feet dry with her hair. Simon saw her as a nothing more than a sinner who had no business being there and who Jesus had no business having contact with. Jesus, on the other hand, saw her potential.

Jesus saw with different eyes, and I will too when I learn to see as He does. Jesus didn’t allow prejudice, hateful attitudes, or religious traditions to keep Him from associating with those who needed Him to give them hope. Nor should I.

People who need hope—like this immoral woman and all of us at some point—fill the world. As believers, we have the message of hope they need. Letting sour attitudes—regardless of how we adopted them into our life—keep us from others extinguishes the hope we have to share.

Jesus wants His followers to see others as He does. Everyone can become His child if they choose. Once in the family, God becomes our Father who watches over us, meets our needs, and unites us together in a spirit of love and unity.

If your spiritual vision is blurry, ask God to clear it up.

Prayer: Father, help us to see others with the same eyes You see them.

Tweetable: Can you see with different eyes? 

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