Clear Vision
The young man walked with purpose toward the busy mall. He had a bomb strapped to his chest. He never looked for cameras only for a crowd. Shortly he sacrificed his life to kill and maim as many as he could. In the same city, another sacrificed her life by giving it away in service to as many lepers in Calcutta as she could. As has always been the case a person never rises above their own vision or concept of God. None of us will either in 2020.
The picture we have of God determines how we live. The prophets saw visions of God and it altered the orbit of their life completely. Paul saw Jesus and he was transformed from a murderer to missionary in a moment. What he despised became precious, and who he once hated, he now loved.
At Passover the disciples wanted to know who would betray Jesus so they asked John the "disciple who Jesus loved" to ask Jesus who it was. It seems a bit strange for surely Jesus loved them all the same. It doesn’t say that Jesus loved him more than the others, however it does mean that John was the one that Jesus could fully love. John was able to receive the most love. Of all the disciples John understood Jesus the best. He understood how Jesus the Creator wanted to love and he knew how to love Jesus in response. He correctly saw that the Creator wanted also to be loved, that He wanted to be leaned on and that He wants His people to be close. He wants to be trusted and He wanted men to be comfortable and un-self conscious in His presence. John actions were changed by what he perceived in Jesus and He acted like no one else did because he saw Jesus in a way that no one else did! (John 13.23-15)
Friends, in 2020 the clearest vision we need is of our Saviour, for the course we plan and the way we act in 2020 will be as correct as our vision of Him. Let’s lean back and look up at His face.