Most people are quite happy if their eye doctor tells them that they have “20/20” vision. Technically, this is a reference to what is called our visual acuity, which is the sharpness of our vision, measured by our ability to identify letters or numbers on a standardized eye chart from a particular viewing distance. The measurement is taken while we are sitting still and when the letters or numbers are stationary. What the measurement does not predict is how well we can see objects similar in brightness to their background, colored objects, and moving objects. The measurement has absolutely no connection to how well we can see into the future.
Health professionals can make fairly accurate predictions about the nature of our health in the future. Stock market analysts seek to make predictions about the state of our economy. Sports prognosticators can make reasonable predictions about the performance of sports teams. Meteorologists make predictions about the weather, but no one can predict all future events accurately and precisely. The best we can do is look back and report on what actually happened in the past, and this is why people say “hindsight is 20/20”.
As we enter a new decade beginning with the year 2020, we would do well to give thought to what “Words from Above” in the Bible tell us about vision. I am referring in particular to Proverbs 29:18, which says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
Throughout the Old Testament, God revealed details about the future to many different individuals, and most often to prophets. God expected these prophets to relay messages about the future to the rest of His people, so they could be properly prepared or so that they could properly respond to these messages. In the New Testament, God used angels to relay messages to individuals about the birth of His Son, whose birth we recently celebrated. In Hebrews 1:1, 2 we are told, “God, who at various times and in various manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son.”
In the Gospels we can read what Jesus said about many different subjects while He lived here on the Earth. Following His departure back to heaven, Jesus began to speak to us through His Holy Spirit. He does this through the written Word of God, which was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and He does this by communicating to us through prayer and in other ways. So, in order to have vision for 2020, and on into the future, we need to listen to whatever it is that He says to us.
Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville. Everyone is welcome to attend. For informa-tion, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.
