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I've always liked dated movies. You know, the kind where the image quality is kind of fuzzy, and you can definitely tell that that the dragon is just a puppet. There's just something about the nostalgia that feels every bit as enjoyable as the shiny effects we get in theaters today. Sometimes even more so.
I can remember when I thought that DVDs were about as far as movies would go. Then Blue Ray started becoming popular, and every one was going on and on about how cool it was, and how real the movies looked in high definition. But the first time I actually saw a movie in Blue Ray HD, I couldn't bring myself to agree. Oh don't get me wrong- I was impressed with the clarity of the picture, but I didn't think it looked very real at all. I never understood why people thought it looked so lifelike when real life was most certainly not that sharp and clear.
Then I found out I needed glasses.
When I got my new glasses and wore them for the first time, it was like going from VHS to Blue Ray. All of a sudden everything was so much more defined. There was so much depth I hadn't noticed before!
My eyes aren't really all that bad. I can function without glasses just fine. When I look at things up close, there's no difference. It's only when things get a little further away that they start to look blurred. But I ever understood that until my glasses helped me to perceive things better from a distance. Looking up at the leaves of the trees was probably the most fun. I could actually see the edges of the leaves, instead of just green blots. I could see the lines of bark in the branches above. In church, I looked around the room and realized that no one's hair was quite as smooth neat as I had always thought. They had strands out of place and little fluffy whisps that floated over their heads. The embroidery on the lampshade I could see now in detail as I sat and read on the couch across the room.
Sure, my eyes aren't nearly as bad as some peoples, but the difference was enough to make me smile in wonder and laugh at myself. It turns out Blue Ray is more lifelike. I just never realized it until my own vision was brought up to standard.
In II Corinthians 4:4 we are told that "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
In other words, Satan has twisted the perspectives of those who do not yet follow God so that they see things in a blurred and backwards way. To them, God's truth and His laws are not good, they are strange at best, cruel at worst. I've talked to people with the desire to share God's redeeming love with them, only to find that they cannot see past what they see as the 'injustice' of His laws. (Laws, by the way, that are totally necessary for the message of salvation to make sense. Why would Jesus save us if we had nothing to be saved from?)
The Scriptures themselves often cause great confusion among believers and non-believers alike. Though we believe that God's Word is infallible, the translations give way to a lot of seeming contradictions that give cause to doubt. And a lot of times even the pure and simple truth is enough to throw someone off track- because as citizens of this world, humans are all vulnerable to Satan's attacks, and only by God's protection are we as Christians spared. When we confess our sins and turn away from them, making the decision to follow Jesus and take Him as our lord, our eyes are opened so that we can understand Truth from God's perspective! Rather like getting glasses for the first time, or going directly from poor-quality VHS to High Definition Blue Ray.
Just like when I looked at the image quality of Blue Ray movies and thought Heh! So unrealistic... a non-Christian looks at the ways of God and thinks it folly. God's laws and nature seem ridiculous and even wrong to them. That's why it can be so difficult to minister to them sometimes. Even our love for them, which we so desperately wish to get across, seems offensive.
What can we do about it? To be honest, I don't think we can do anything about it, except pray. Prayer is a powerful tool in the Christian life: a privilege we should never take for granted. Not only does God allow us- who by all rights should be unworthy- to approach Him, He actually listens to us! Every day we are to live in prayer, keeping God in our thoughts and hearts at all times, in as much as that's possible. And every time we mean to minister or witness to someone, we should cover our efforts in prayer. Ask God to bless our words, and open people's ears so that they can hear us for what we are trying to say, not what they think we might say. In this way, they can finally see the world as it was meant to be seen- through God's perspective... a perfect 20-20.
-Emmarayn Redding
In II Corinthians 4:4 we are told that "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
In other words, Satan has twisted the perspectives of those who do not yet follow God so that they see things in a blurred and backwards way. To them, God's truth and His laws are not good, they are strange at best, cruel at worst. I've talked to people with the desire to share God's redeeming love with them, only to find that they cannot see past what they see as the 'injustice' of His laws. (Laws, by the way, that are totally necessary for the message of salvation to make sense. Why would Jesus save us if we had nothing to be saved from?)
The Scriptures themselves often cause great confusion among believers and non-believers alike. Though we believe that God's Word is infallible, the translations give way to a lot of seeming contradictions that give cause to doubt. And a lot of times even the pure and simple truth is enough to throw someone off track- because as citizens of this world, humans are all vulnerable to Satan's attacks, and only by God's protection are we as Christians spared. When we confess our sins and turn away from them, making the decision to follow Jesus and take Him as our lord, our eyes are opened so that we can understand Truth from God's perspective! Rather like getting glasses for the first time, or going directly from poor-quality VHS to High Definition Blue Ray.
Just like when I looked at the image quality of Blue Ray movies and thought Heh! So unrealistic... a non-Christian looks at the ways of God and thinks it folly. God's laws and nature seem ridiculous and even wrong to them. That's why it can be so difficult to minister to them sometimes. Even our love for them, which we so desperately wish to get across, seems offensive.
What can we do about it? To be honest, I don't think we can do anything about it, except pray. Prayer is a powerful tool in the Christian life: a privilege we should never take for granted. Not only does God allow us- who by all rights should be unworthy- to approach Him, He actually listens to us! Every day we are to live in prayer, keeping God in our thoughts and hearts at all times, in as much as that's possible. And every time we mean to minister or witness to someone, we should cover our efforts in prayer. Ask God to bless our words, and open people's ears so that they can hear us for what we are trying to say, not what they think we might say. In this way, they can finally see the world as it was meant to be seen- through God's perspective... a perfect 20-20.
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-Emmarayn Redding
Excellent post! I love how you were able to connect this series of events in your life to such an important spiritual truth.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm always trying to look at things and see if there's anything I can learn about God from it. Just the other day as I was riding bike (without my glasses, wishing I could see the leaves better) that this particular connection hit me.
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