TWENTY-TWENTY VISION
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.-Isa 55:8-9
No...No...Twenty-Twenty Vision has nothing to do with Twenty-Twenty Cricket also branded as T-20 Cricket of which there is no shortage, these days. Oh yes, it was “visionary” of Cricket administrators’ at the helm to have instituted this “Instant” variety of Cricket in this “Instant” age (Instant Coffee, Fast-Food etc) where time is at a premium and hence public at large, are prone to take to Fast-paced Cricketing action packaged and presented over just 3 hours like duck to water. Well, Twenty-Twenty vision is not about having instant “fixes for a problem” but a long-term recourse to an issue which in hindsight would be perfect. Well for those uninitiated in eye-care, “Twenty-Twenty” vision is all about having a “perfect eyesight” (as per the Oxford Dictionary). And who better than our perfect God (Matt 5:48) when it comes to having a “perfect perspective” both in the physical and the more important spiritual realms!!!
A wise soul remarked “We do not see things, as they are but we see things, as we are”. How true!!! What seems absurd in the sight of mortal men, may not be so in the eyes’ of the all knowing Perfect One. In this message, Yours truly has endeavoured to bring to the fore the stark contrast in the thinking of the Worldly wise and the Wisest One in the Universe whose ways and thoughts are far higher than those termed as “brilliant” by the finite World (1 Cor 1:25).
LIMP...
The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.-Gen 32:31
Truth be told, what was Jacob’s spiritual state before his ethereal “wrestling bout” with the Lord (Gen 32:24)? Being an inherent schemer and having cheated many of his near and dear ones’ till then, he was the very definition of a “spiritually lame person”. But only after, he actually started physically “limping” that he began to walk aright spiritually in the sight of his Creator. In the days to follow, he would even become an innocent victim of cheating by his “near and dear ones” (Gen 37:31-35) enduring terrible emotional agony but he himself would never cheat on anyone, putting them to loss. Folks, do not look down upon (a La Job friends’) those fellow Christians who are “limping”, for all we know the good Lord may be using this “limp” to accomplish a greater purpose in their lives (Job 23:10). Consider Apostle Paul’s struggle with a “limp” in his life that seemed for all practical purposes to be seriously “limiting” him but was actually leading to “God’s power being made perfect in his weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).
The outer man may “perish” but if the inner man is being made “stronger” because of the temporary plight of the former...nothing quite like it (2 Cor 4:16)!!!
Oh, wise is the one who views matters of “physical and spiritual” like our Heavenly Father does and prioritizes suitably (I Tim 4:8)!!!
LOFTY...
In the sight of Perfect One, the one who is lowly is the lofty one. Consider this Scripture...
The greatest among you will be your servant....Matt 23:11
Time we dare to re-phrase the “Leadership Training” programs in the Church as “Leadership training in Servant hood”??? Yes!!! Oh to have the mind of the One who washed His disciples’ feet and to think like Him always (John 13:4-14/Philippians 2:5)!!!
Time also for “reverse-ageing” in the Spiritual realm...Consider this Scripture, looking at it very closely...
And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be CONVERTED, and BECOME AS LITTLE CHILDREN, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
In an individual’s life, after conversion (being made anew in Christ-John 3:3/2 Cor 5:17) starts the process of becoming more and more Child-like as the indwelling Holy Spirit starts chipping away at the rough edges of his pride, self-reliance and manipulative tendencies making him flesh-out in increasing measure the Scripture portion “not by your strength or by your might but by My Spirit” (Zech 4:6) so that on the day of reckoning when he is presented to Him (Eph 4:30) we would come across as one with a total Child-like heart (the one of Adam before the Fall which was all about having child-like trust on the Father exuding absolute humility in the process). Mind you, my observations on becoming more and more child-like need to be tempered with 1 Cor 14:20...the Lord wants us to become more and more simple by the day...not simpletons!!!
Are we on the mark in the matter of spiritual reverse aging process or far off the mark in the Master’s eyes??? Time to introspect...and submit to the leading of the Spirit (Gal 5:16)!!!
While on the subject of becoming from “big to small”, permit me also to state that even though it is as difficult for the high and lofty rich ones’ to enter Heaven as it is for the camel to enter the eye of the needle for invariably it is in the rich we observe detestable pride, cocky self-reliance and a crafty manipulative disposition, it is certainly not impossible with God (Matt 19:26) to effect the “necessary salutary changes” in them. In the hands of the Master Sculptor- the patient and persevering Holy Spirit- in due course of time they (rich ones’ after being born again) would be “cut down to size” for their own good so as to “pass through the eye of the needle” with ease. Oh to view “growing” and “pruning” process, as the Heavenly Father views it!!!
LAY-UP....
One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.- Proverbs 11:24
Now how is this possible? One steeped in human rationale may ask for in the Worldly realm, more you save, greater your savings, fatter your bank balance and so on and so forth? Let me herald the fact once again that impossible is possible only with God (Matt 19:26). Now hear this testimony from a horse’s mouth (Yours truly). When, I was about a quit a lucrative, highly paid job to take-up full-time spiritual ministry in answer to the Master’s call eleven years ago, several questions popped up in my mind with regard to my future charity? Well, I was supporting some Christian ministries financially, when I was holding a job. Would or could I continue doing the same being a full-timer also was a question which creased my forehead before I took that “leap of faith”? Truth to tell, by His Grace and empowerment alone my financial support to Christian ministries increased much more after coming to Full-time Ministry. Why? Did I solicit funds and get them? NEVER!!! The Lord provides faithfully by “stirring up the hearts of men” (Exodus 35:21– the cornerstone verse of George Muller’s peerless orphanage ministry). It is indeed true that a Christian’s Bank balance at the end of the day may not be “overflowing” but his spirit will become richer with time, even as his “Heavenly Bank account” will be swelling with the laying up of treasures in the place that matters most (Matt 6:19-20). Hmmm...what happened to manna which the Israelites wanted to “hoard”? Much to their chagrin, got infected with maggots (Exo 16:20)!!! But the same manna “laid-up” in a bowl inside the Ark of the Covenant (in the presence of the Lord)...mind you with no addition of preservatives...well...well...well...I can only shout Hallelujah remembering once again what the Saviour said “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matt 6:19-20). Oh to look at “Heavenly Investment” as the Heavenly Father does!!!
In Ministry, the golden rule is “If you run after Jesus, all the needed resources come ‘chasing’ you “. But tragically if one runs after money, he would eventually find himself stranded “high and dry” (I Tim 6:9). Shipwrecked…ah that’s the word!!!
When it comes to Charity, we can be either like clean waters of a “flowing river” or like that of a dirty, stagnant pond becoming a perfect haven for mosquito breeding (sic). Repulsive as it is, the sight of a dirty pond...our lives would appear as such in the eyes of one with a 20-20 vision, if we resort to “hoarding” greedily in the Earthly vaults instead of storing them in the “Heavenly” ones’. By the way are not flowing clean waters revered to the point of worship in our Country? In this connection, we need to tell our countrymen lovingly that the Creator alone needs to be worshipped and not His creation.
LAY-DOWN...
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.- Matt 16:25
And when it finally comes to the crunch! After our time is up and done on Earth!!! Take my word, by then we would have completed all of the divinely ordained purposes in our life (John 21:15-19) . Now with martyrdom with all its attendant implications of physical agony looming large before us, what ought to be our response? Thankfully we should accept martyrdom (Romans 14:8) laying down our physical lives for His glory...fully believing that “sunset” (our end) in one place is actually a “sunrise” (a glorious beginning) in the other. Incidentally if our martyrdom inspires some brethren, strengthening their faith, then so be it. Didn’t somebody say “aspire to inspire, even when you expire”. By the way, how can a Christian discern, his time is up and it is time to cede to his killers’ without any struggle? The indwelling Holy Spirit is the teacher in all matters including this dicey issue (2 Peter 1:14).
Finally, for those who are willing to lay down their life at the altar, the reward by way of a Crown promised is not one of incorruptibility (I Cor 9:25) or rejoicing (I Thess 2:19) or glory (I Peter 5:4) or righteousness (2 Tim 4:8) but paradoxically the one of Life (Rev 2:10). Hallelujah!!! No wonder that great martyr Jim Elliot observed “He is no fool, who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose”. Hallelujah…
Oh even to see “premature” death (in the sight of myopic World) wrought by martyrdom, as the Heavenly Father sees it!!! A matter of great joy for the person concerned when viewed from the Eternal perspective (Philippians 2:17)!!!
Suresh Manoharan
