Today's Journal
EYES OF OUR HEART
Paul, an apostle, wrote to the Ephesians: “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may perceive what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.” (Ephesians 1:17-19)I have prayed for many years “the Father of glory would give me a spirit of wisdom and revelation.” I have also asked along with that request that “the eyes of my heart” be opened and enlightened. In my asking I have discovered that part of seeing with the eyes of my heart is learning to see with my physical eyes. To be enlightened I try to look at things like this:
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge,” David sang in Psalm 19:1–2. Paul likewise wrote, “his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20).
The eyes of my heart seem to focus best when I am looking carefully at nature. Seeing a Wren with an insect for her babies gets me going.
“Look at the birds in the sky, they do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you more valuable than they are?
Think about how the lilies of the field grow; they do not work or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these!” Jesus