I wear reading glasses and own 23 pair to prove it. There is a pair in every room of the house; in every glove compartment, two pair in my purse and a pair on the boat. Oh yes, there is also the pair I wear on the top of my head; the one I am forever trying to find. It’s not uncommon to see glasses on my head, hanging from shirt or perched on my nose; all at the same time.

When the grandkids need help with homework, the TV remote or want me to view their latest and greatest Minecraft houses, they hand me a pair of glasses. I can’t count the number of times I have reached for glasses on the top of my head only to find I have taken them off and left them in some unknown location.

Since my eye glasses are repeatedly taken off and on, it is pointless to store them in a protective case. Needless to say, it also means fingerprints and smudges continually cloud my view. On occasion I use my shirttail to wipe the lenses; but that only cleans a small radius in the center of each lens and my clouded view becomes further obstructed by tunnel vision.

I have all the right tools to thoroughly clean my eye glasses and it would only take a few minutes each day to remove the dirty fingerprints that obstruct my view. But, I willfully choose to not use them and instead complain about my inability to see things clearly.

Our Christian walk is no different.

God provides humanity with eye glasses in all shapes, colors, sizes and lens strength. It is up to us to keep the fingerprints of sin, differences, prejudices and unbelief from clouding our view.

To clean the lenses through which we view life, we must first remove those things that obstructs our view. That requires more than a simple wipe of the shirt tail; it requires the right tools to thoroughly clean our heart:

• The Word of God: The solution that softens the dirty fingerprints on the lens of our heart
• Prayer: The extra boast needed to remove the fingerprints and smudges from our life
• Forgiveness: The cloth that wipes the lens of our heart and allows us a clear view of God’s purpose in our life
• Grace: The protective cover that keeps our vision from being clouded

“You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.” 1 Thessalonians 5:5

God provides us with the tools to keep our vision clear and unclouded. However, it is our decision to walk through life with dirty lenses that prevent us from seeing the light.