Glasses

I was forty years old and working on my pick-up truck.  For some reason, my brake lights weren’t coming on when they should.  I was laying on the seat with my head hanging under the steering wheel looking at the fuse box.  But I couldn’t seem to focus on the fuses.  My head was all the way back against the bottom of the seat, but I still couldn’t make out if the fuse was a 15- or 20-amp fuse.  And then I panicked.  “What is wrong with my eyes?” I thought.  I went to an ophthalmologist the next day and he said, “Your problem is that you’ve had too many birthdays.  It’s just time for you to get reading glasses.”  But I protested, “I’m not that old!  I’m just forty!”  The doctor just gave me that condescending look.  The idea sank in.  I was that old.  I heard Dr. Gary Chapman talking about the same milestone in his life.  He said to the eye doctor, “So are you telling me that I have to wear these glasses all the time?!”  The doctor answered, “No, not all the time.  Only when you want to see.”  If you want to see you wear the glasses.  Hey, that’s exactly how it is with our spiritual vision.  We read the Bible only if we want to see.  When life’s problems pop up, read the Bible to find out how to solve them.  But if we don’t want to do what the Bible says, we don’t have to.  But neither will life’s problems be solved.  James said it best in James 1:22, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”  If you want to see, wear the glasses.  If you want to solve life’s problems, read the Book.  But don’t just read it; obey it.  Simple but profound.