15 Since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, this is the reason that 16 I don’t stop giving thanks to God for you when I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation that makes God known to you. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s call, what is the richness of God’s glorious inheritance among believers, 19 and what is the overwhelming greatness of God’s power that is working among us believers. This power is conferred by the energy of God’s powerful strength.
Reflection
I have worn glasses and contacts more or less my whole life. Between teachers who sat me up front and faking my way through the eye tests, I got by until the third grade. But my eyes only went downhill from there. My eyes are so bad I need my glasses to even find my glasses. I require correction in order to see clearly.
The scripture talks about multiple ways of seeing reality – sometimes, the Bible talks about “the world,” “the flesh,” or “the desire of our eyes” (see 1 John 2:15-18). What’s meant by these things are the things that we can see and touch, the tangibles that we often tend to regard as absolutes.
That’s one way of seeing, but it’s not the only way of seeing.
The scriptures offer a set of corrective lenses that help us to experience something that can only be seen with the eyes of the heart: that is, faith. The spiritual world is every bit as real as the physical one – it’s just that many of us resist putting on the glasses that will allow us to see it.
I faked my way through the eye test for a few years. But at some point, I needed the correction.
Likewise, we can fake our way through our days pretending that the material can provide us with all we need to experience the fullness of life. But it’s simply not so. In order to see clearly – to understand ourselves, God, and others – we need to see with the eyes of our hearts. Faith provides the correction we need to see reality clearly.
by Joe Monahan
For Pondering & Prayer
When was the first time you had an inkling there was something more to this life? When did you first have a sense of the transcendent, the spiritual, of God’s presence in and with you? Have you ever shared that story with anyone? Sometimes, all we need to have our eyes opened is the sense that we’re not alone in our belief. Today, consider who might need to hear this part of your story.
Prayer: God, thank you for giving us the vision that only faith can provide. In the words of Ephesians, we pray that the eyes of our hearts will have enough light to see the hope of God’s call, the richness of God’s glorious inheritance, and the overwhelming greatness of God’s power at work for those who believe. Amen.
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