I have reached the age. I have reached the age of needing to hold things at a certain distance to be able to read the words. Ugh. If the words are too far away, I cannot sharpen my focus on the words; however, if I hold them too close, I have the same problem. I need the “just right” distance to correct the blurred vision.
When vision is blurred, a person cannot see the way. Everything is unclear. When our vision of God’s standard is blurred, we will not see our way as God intended us to see. We will lose our way and purposely choose the worst pathway. We will literally choose our own slow (and sometimes not so slow) destruction. This pathway is miserable and void of thankfulness. Blurry vision of God’s standard will hinder thankfulness.
Blurry Vision of the Standard – Jer. 15:16; Josh. 1:8
Jeremiah is looking for the Lord to relieve him of his persecutors. In this context, Jeremiah states in verse 16, “Thy words were found, and I did eat (assimilated) them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.” In Joshua 1:8, the Lord is giving Joshua counsel as he prepares to lead the nation of Israel. It is here where God calms his fears and provides the help, he will need for guidance in his new high pressure leadership role. He says, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
Jeremiah is keeping a clear vision of the standard in the midst of persecution. Joshua is told to keep a clear vision of God’s standard amid stress, daunting tasks, and unfavorable surrounding circumstances.
January was only a couple of months ago. We all know what happens every January, right? We make resolutions to be a better person, to laugh more, to listen better, to become a better spouse or parent --- and to lose weight. The local workout facilities become suddenly crowded at the beginning of each year, but they eventually taper off by spring. Why do so many fail to lose weight and get in better shape? Because their vision of the standard becomes blurred! We fail to continue rehearsing the vision of preventing a heart attack, or a stroke, or a life of less pain and a stronger body to do the things we want to do. Worse yet, we fail because we replace THE vision of the standard with a counterfeit. We replace the right and needed vision with the promise of personal pleasure and comfort.
We will struggle with genuine thankfulness when we stop rehearsing the vision of the correct standard and slowly but surely replace that vision with the lies of Satan. Lies like:
God did not mean me when He gave that command (Jn. 14:15)
God does not love me, or I would have what I want (I Jn. 4:10)
God has left me to fend for myself (Heb. 13:5)
God never lets me have good things (Ps. 34:10; 84:11)
I deserve better (Rom. 6:23)
When we replace the correct vision with worthless counterfeits, we show we do not understand the value of what we have in Jesus!
Psalm 119:72, “The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.”
Psalm 119:111, “Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.”
HERE’S THE PROBLEM: A blurry vision of God and His Word. When we do not see God with a clear vision of who He is, what He has done, and what His Word declares – we will not be a thankful people!
HERE’S THE SOLUTION:
1. Proverbs 4:23 – Guard Your Heart
Be careful what you watch! Be careful where you go! Be careful what you hear! These all will affect your thankfulness and the thankfulness of your family! As we all find out sooner or later, thankfulness is better caught than taught.
2. Joshua 1:8 – Meditate on Scripture
Do this individually…do this as a family…do it corporately! A sharp focus on scripture will impact your thankfulness!
3. Psalm 1:1-2 – Delight in Scripture
As you guard your heart and meditate on scripture, you will begin to delight in scripture. How do I know I delight in the Lord?
Do I find real peace and fulfillment in God and His Word?
Do I have a growing delight in things that have eternal value?
Do my desires continue to grow in likeness to God’s stated desires in the Bible?
Do I have great contentment in following God?
Do I guard my time I get to spend alone reading God’s love letter to me?
Do I reread God’s letters to me and memorize the special parts?
Do I spend time talking to God all throughout the day?
I remember when my brother and I went to the eye doctor at the same time while home on Christmas break from college. We both went in and had a check-up. Both of us had our eyes dilated. Everything checked out fine. We put on our sunglasses and then walked outside to drive home. Since we drove ourselves, we now realized we had a problem – both of us had somewhat blurry vision from eye drops and we could hardly keep our eyes open because of the sun and its reflection off the snow. We squinted with our eyes watering down our faces all the way home. We had a really hard time seeing what we needed to see!
Sometimes we have a really hard time seeing what we need to see spiritually because God’s Word remains blurry by our own actions! Blurred spiritual vision will urge us to logically reason away the Bible, forget what truth is, and if not corrected – resentment and bitterness will creep into our hearts.
Thanklessness is often right behind blurred spiritual vision.
Weeding the garden was never my favorite task. At one point in my childhood, to get the job done, I pulled up all the weeds that I could see. The problem was that I didn’t get any of the roots! The ground was hard, and I was in a hurry to play (to do what I wanted to do). I thought I had accomplished my assigned task quickly; however, I only created another job for myself in about 10 to 14 days. The roots were still in the ground and all the weeds grew back easily and quickly.
Lessons about weeding:
I learned that the best time to remove the weeds so that the roots are removed thoroughly is when the soil is loose and even moist.
I learned that when the soil was hard and stiff the weeds were stubborn and not easily removed.
I learned that it was best to remove weeds in the garden when they first appeared. If I waited for the weeds to spread across the area, it was a lot harder and took a lot more time to remove the weeds.
These hindrances to thankfulness are like weeds that are hard to remove. These spiritual weeds are stubborn, and they are quick to return after you thought they were removed. The weed of selfishness, the weed of little to no relationship with Jesus, and the weed of blurred vision of God’s standard must be dug out by the roots…and when they reappear, they must be removed without delay. When the weeds are gone, the plant life is no longer strangled and restricted. The absence of the spiritual weeds clears the way for the blessed fruit of thankfulness.
Grab a hold of the spiritual weeds in your own heart…grab them by their roots…and by God’s grace, pull them out and cast them out. You will find it was well worth the effort!