jeffjonesblog

On Monday we moved our daughter Annie down to college for the start of her junior year. Annie’s a great kid, and she’s doing fantastic in college. She’s a wonderful student, a great athlete and leader on her volleyball team. So we found ourselves giving her one of those mom and dad pep talks. Really what we were doing is what Jesus often did with His disciples as He challenged them to look beyond what they saw with their natural eyes. He wanted them to look beyond this natural field of wheat, and see a world that needed to hear the Good News.

Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! John 4:35

It’s what we were doing with Annie as we talked about what this year could look like. We were trying to help her paint a picture of what this next year could look like. God reminds us that people without vision perish, or we could say, they end up living below God’s best because they lost their vision for what life could be like. It’s too bad, but people often limit themselves to their natural vision, but God has so much more for us. Our hope was to help Annie see that a good year could be transformed into a great year by looking to set bigger goals for herself and her team.

Vision—Biblical vision is not what you see with your natural eyes, but what you see with the eyes of your heart. It’s not what “is”, it’s what “could be”. He wants us to use our faith and look beyond the natural fields in our life, and grasp the reality of what is possible.

Are you living below God’s best for your life? What do you see? Is it time to “lift up your eyes” and see beyond your circumstances? Maybe it’s time to looks beyond your present disappointments, your present heartaches, or maybe even your present position at work. So lift up your eyes, what do you see with the eyes of your heart? Begin to paint a new picture for your life. Is it a picture of a healthy marriage, and happy and blessed family, is it a new job or a brand new course in life? It’s up to you, will you do it today, will you take some time with God and “lift up your eyes” with Him. Remember, He said, what’s impossible with man IS possible with God, so lift up your eyes and dream big!