Vision 2020Sample

Day 1

What Do You See?

One of the most amazing gifts God gives is the gift of sight. Vision enables us to safely navigate through life and empowers us to accomplish many great things in life.

While physical sight is a wonderful blessing, there is another kind of vision that is even more important––spiritual vision. The wise, Holy-Spirit-inspired writer of Proverbs described the importance of spiritual vision this way:

Proverbs 29:18a (KJV) Where there is no vision, the people perish. …

Proverbs 29:18a (Message) If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves. …

The Bible says that people lacking in spiritual vision perish. They dry up. This fail to experience and receive all God has for them. They stumble their way through life with little or no hope, purpose or direction. What a sad way to live.

The sad consequences of poor spiritual vision are observed in an Old Testament story recorded in Numbers 13, 14. The Israelites were poised to enter the land God promised to give them after their miraculous deliverance from Egyptian slavery.  Moses appointed twelve men to check out the condition of the land before the entire nation entered. They were instructed to bring back a reconnaissance report to the people. 

The “Cliff Notes” version of the events that followed is simple. Ten of the twelve men were afflicted with spiritual myopia. Although they acknowledged seeing the beauty and bounty of the land, what they really saw was problems, giants, impossibilities and looming defeat. Their lack of spiritual vision, and the negative statements that accompanied their blindness infected and afflicted the whole nation. Because of their inability to see God’s promises and the faithlessness that resulted from their blindness, they, and an entire generation of people, suffered the consequences. They perished! Only two of the group––Joshua and Caleb––men with healthy spiritual vision––experienced the blessings of the Promised Land.

Spiritual vision is something we all need to improve. We must consistently ask God to “open the eyes of our hearts” so that we can better see:

• Who God is and what He is saying to us through His Word.
• Our true spiritual condition and deepest needs.
• Opportunities to love and serve others in His name.
• The phenomenal future He has planned for us.

Strong spiritual vision spawns other great qualities in us. It produces faith, hope, confidence, peace and discipline. Healthy spiritual vision enables us to see and embrace the Promised Land God has for us to enter and enjoy.

What do you see?