THE FAR LOOK

2Co 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
 (KJV)

Someone said,”You can blot out the sun with a penny if you hold it close enough to your eye.” That serves to illustrate what some have done in regards to the glorious realities of things to come. They fail to see beyond the narrow scope of their daily routine. Their attention is focused on the temporal things of the present rather than the the glories that are eternal. It is no wonder that they are so bored and depressed. If we are wise we will discipline ourselves to keep our gaze upon the glory which is to come–that is never boring!

An old story from 1898 makes a good point. A writer went to her optometrist requesting new glasses because her eyes were giving her trouble. After an examination the doctor assured her that her eyes needed rest, not new glasses. The woman explained what she had to do each day and that it was impossible for her to take a break. After a moment of thought the doctor asked her if there was a window from which she could get a distant and wide view. Enthusiastically she responded by saying that from her front porch she could see the peaks of the Blue Ridge mountains and from her back window the Alleghany foothills.”That is just what you need”, the doctor said.”When your eyes get tired with your reading or writing, go and stand at your back window or your front porch, and look steadily at your mountains for five minutes–ten will be better. This far look will rest your eyes.”

That woman found relief and wrote these words:” Are you tried of the little treadmill round of care and worry, of the conflicts with evil, of the struggles after holioness, of the harrowing grief of this world–tired of today’s dreary commonplaces? Then rest your spiritual eyes by getting a far vision. Look up to the beauty of God’s holiness. Look in upon the throngs of the redeemed, waiting inside the gates. Look out upon the wider life which stretches away illimitably.”

That wise woman found the secret that Paul spoke of many years before. Hopefully this will help someone else do the same.Remember--for the Christian, the future always looks bright if we look far enough ahead!!!