March 24, 2024
Last year, when I went to the eye doctor to have my annual checkup, I received good news and bad news. The good news was my eye health was good and my long-range vision hadn’t changed. On the other hand, my close-up vision had gotten worse. In other words, although he used a bunch of big words, he told me I was getting older. When he finished his explanation, I found out I didn’t need new glasses for everyday use, but my close-up vision had deteriorated to the point that if he just upgraded the bifocal part of my glasses, the difference in the normal lens and bifocal lens would cause me to have problems with dizziness and vertigo. Turns out, I got a new pair of glasses I was supposed to use at work when I was working on the computer. When I first got the new glasses, it was a real pain to switch back and forth between glasses all the time, so I generally just squinted and used my old ones. As time went passed by however, I was squinting so much I was afraid my face would freeze in that position, so I started using my new glasses. It’s amazing what you can see when you are looking through the proper lens! As I have been pondering on this, I realized when we read the Bible, we often try to read with the wrong lens. The result is, we don’t see so good! Sometimes we look through the lens of bias or preconceived ideas. Sometimes we try to read an ancient letter or book (the last book of the Bible was written around 96 AD) with 21st century lens resulting in distorted vision. When we read the Bible, we need to always read with the understanding of who the original audience was. We also need to understand the genre (type of literature) of the book we are reading. A book of history, for example, the book of Exodus, needs a different a lens that a book of poetry like Proverbs. A letter to the church at Philippi (Philippians) needs a different lens than a book of prophecy, like Zechariah. Some books of the bible need to be read literally while others are highly symbolic. The world around us is fascinating and to get the best view, you need the right lens. God has given a wonderful collection of books called the Bible and to get the best view, you need the right lens.
Be blessed and then go be a blessing . . . Bro. Andy
