HOW FAR CAN YOU SEE THIS MORNING?
Genesis 13:14 “And the Lord said unto Abraham after that Lot was separated from him, lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art”.
INTRODUCTION
What we are and what we may become depends in a large measure upon what we can see, and what we see depends upon whether our visibility is high or low. Low visibility is a term used by airmen to describe atmosphere conditions.
A friend once took a plane from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara. Fog made it impossible to see the ground and the plane had to come in on the beam. The plane landed safely but on the run-way it was lost in the fog. The tower said, “come in flight 224 but the pilot could not see which way was in, and a truck was sent out to lead the pilot in.
When visibility is high one sees more clearly and over a wider area.
How far can you see this morning? Is your visibility high or low? I would like to use three examples from the Bible which contrast high visibility with low.
I. The first one is found in Genesis 13:1-18
In these scriptures we find two men standing on a hill in Palestine. Abraham and his nephew Lot. Abraham is a man of faith having left his ancestral home in the Ur of the Chaldes in response to God’s call to be guided by God to another land. Abraham got his possessions together, crossed the desert for a stay in Egypt, and had finally reached the borders of the land God had promised him.
Both have large herds of cattle and Lot’s herdsmen contend with Abraham’s herdman because there was a scarcity of grass and not enough for both herds. They had got along up unto this time, Abraham and Lot had gotten along. They had share the toils of the road, they had faced the desert dangers and storms, and they had become prosperous, but were about ready to come to blows over a few blades of grass. It doesn’t take much to break a freindship does it? In this case it took only a few blades of grass. Sometimes it takes even less, a sharp word; a misunderstanding may trigger it.
A few years ago a man stepped out on his back porch and looking up he saw a speck in the sky. It grew larger and larger. Then he saw that it was alive, a struggling living mass coming to earth. Two eagles were locked in deadly combat over a fish one had taken. The fish fell to the ground but the battle continued and with a loud wild scream, they hurled themselves at one another and fell to the ground dead. Greed had destroyed them.
Beginning as a speck, greed will grow on us if unchecked, and drag us down to destruction as it did the eagles. Unless we destroy greed, it will destroy us. Lot would have all the grass. He wanted to write mine upon it. He would erect a “No trespassing sign”. Abraham no doubt sensed what going through Lot’s mind, but he said to his nephew “Let there be no strife between us for we are brethren. Take the left or the right and go in peace”. It would take grace to give a grasping nephew first choice, it would take a lot of the love Paul talked about in I Cor. 13, “ Love suffers long and is kind. Love works no ill to his neighbor. Love seeks not her own, does not envy and is not puffed up”. Fits every occasion and never fails “Lot chose the well watered plain of Jordan and pitched his tent toward Sodom”. His choice was typical of men of low visibility. All evil may be rooted in the love of money. Jesus in his teaching warned against this attitude by saying, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust corrupts and thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven beyond the reach of moth and rust and thief proof”.
And how do we lay up our treasures in heaven? The widow did it with the two small coins representing her all that she put in the Temple offering. It was probably not the first time nor the last time she had done such a thing. Mary did it by pouring the expensive perfume over the head of Jesus. Peter did it by leaving all to follow Jesus. Paul suffered the loss of all things to serve Christ. Jesus once said that the giving of a cup of cool water would not go unnoticed.
One spring day, a man left a hoe and a rake at the blacksmith shop to be sharpened. Later he returned for them. He handed the blacksmith a dollar to pay for the job. The blacksmith refused the money. The man insist on paying but the blacksmith said, “Neighbor, can’t you let a man do something now and then to stretch his soul”. “It is more blessed to give than to receive”. What a blessing Abraham was in line for that day.
Lot chose Sodom. It was the choice of a man of low visibility. Abraham remembered God’s promise to him and he was willing to let God make it good, and Lot’s choice worked for Abraham’s good. It is still true “All things work together for good to them that love God and are the called according to his purpose”. All things, big and little, pleasant and unpleasant, good and bad, happy and sad, but God is able to make them all to contribute to our God.
After Lot had moved out, the Lord came to Abraham and said, “Look to the North, to the East, to the West and to the South. Everything you can see is yours”. Abraham took God at his word. The Abraham removed his tent and dwelt in the plain of manfree which is in Hebrew and built there an alter unto the Lord.”
Abraham was a man of high visibility. Abraham fellowship with God at the altar. Lot could see as far as Sodom, but Abraham could see God. How far can you see this morning? Is your visibility high or low?
II. The second illustration concerns Elisha and Gehazi
II Kings 6:8-23
“When the King of Syria warred against Israel, he set up camp in a certain place. Elisha sent word to the King of Israel and warned him against the ambush. This happened time after time and the King of Syria suspected a traitor in the camp. Someone told him that the prophet Elisha was warning the King of Syria. The Syrian King ordered his great army to capture Elisha and bring him in. Learning that Elisaha was at Doham he sent a great army of chariot and surrounded the city one night. When ELisha’s servant rose early he saw the situation was perilous and escape was impossible. He called Elisha and said, “What shall we do?” Elisha took stock of the enemy and said, “We have more for us than they have against us”.
Elisha saw doubt in the eyes of his servant, and prayed, “Lord open his eyes that he might see”, and the Lord opened the servants eyes and he saw a mountain was filled with horses and chariots of fire, around about Elisha.
Low viability sees every exit blocked. Low visibility cries out, “Alas, what we do?” Low visibility was the enemy. High visibility sees the channels of God and rests on the promises of God. Low visibility makes one afraid. High visibility has confidence in God and the peace which goes beyond human understanding. “The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?
When little David went out to met Goliath, King Saul saw the giant but little David saw the power of God. How far can you see this morning? Can you see beyond your problem the love of God, the power of God, and the presence of God?
Finny tells crossing the Atlantic in time of the storm. The noise was deafening. Going down into the engine room, he found it quiet. So God gives quietness, confidence, courage and strength in time of storm. Our help comes from the Lord. We must not give up. We must look up. We must have high vision to trust God.
III. The contrast between Jesus and those who passed by
Matthew 28:38-44
“And they that passed by reviled him saying, “If you are really God’s son, come down from the cross and we will believe on you”.
What a commotion Jesus might have caused had he come down from the cross that day! His hecklers would not have stayed to worship him nor would they have believed on him. He would have gotten into the headlines of the world and into all the history books.
Low visibility would say “come down I surrender the commission. Give up the thought of ruling in men’s hearts. Settle for a Kingdom like Caesar’s”.
But Jesus would say, “Not so!” I came into the world that through my sacrifices sinners would be saved. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.” If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Jesus saw beyond the cross and did not turn back. His was high vision was in our behalfs. Thank God for that!
CONCLUSION
For victories living we need high vision, and the way to have high vision is to “keep our eyes upon Jesus”.
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim.
In the light of his glory and grace.
How is your visibility this morning? Is it high or is it low? How far can you see this morning? Are you looking off to Jesus the author and finisher of your faith? Or are you satisfied with low visibility?
