Ireceived good news at my eye check-up last month—my long distance vision has improved. Well, I thought it was good news until a friend informed me that while “Long distance vision can improve as we age; close-up vision may fade.”

That made me think of another kind of improved long distance vision that I have observed in some Christians. Those who have known the Lord for a long time or who have gone through great trials seem to have a better heavenly vision than the rest of us. Their eternal eyesight has got better and their close-up ‘earthly’ vision is fading.

Because the apostle Paul had that type of eternal vision, he encouraged the church in Corinth: “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory . . . . The things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17-18).

For now we struggle with our ‘eyesight’. There’s a tension between enjoying all that God has given us in this life, yet still believing what theologian Jonathan Edwards said about our future: “To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here.”Seeing Him will bring perfect vision.

Author

Anne Cetas

Topics

Our Daily Bread