The Funny Thing About Binoculars

Have you ever looked through the wrong end of binoculars? That's the funny thing about binoculars: If you look through the wrong end you end getting the exact opposite of what is intended. Instead of something far away being made closer to you, you end up seeing it even farther away.

I think that for much of my adult life, I've been looking through the wrong end of the "binoculars" of Christianity. The things that should allow me to see God closer to me and know Him in much greater detail have done the opposite. It's not that I've had the wrong tools. I've just been looking through the wrong end. I've been looking through the "striving to be holy" end of the binoculars rather than through the "grace" end. Too often I've looked through the "I've got to do this" end rather than the "He's already done it" end. And often He's looked farther away than when I first began this walk.

Prayer. The Scriptures. Worship. Preaching. Teaching. The fellowship of the local church body.
All of these are the binoculars by which we should be seeing the Lord closer and closer. But when we look through the wrong end - when these become demands placed upon us, or penances for our sinfulness, or even a means to achieve holiness and thereby please God - He ends up looking further and further away from us. His image becomes smaller and we see less of Him.

I'm being more careful these days to make sure I'm seeing things as I'm meant to see them. I'm being careful to look through the right end of the "binoculars." I'm still striving - But now I'm striving to see it all through the lens of His grace.
And what a difference I see!