In Genesis 18 we are privy to a conversation displaying all sorts of heart attitudes which are still applicable today, right where we are, everyday.
As the conversation opens we see Abraham sitting in the door of his tent, which was his dwelling place, his home and covering. It’s probably somewhere around midday, so it’s hot and he’s taken shelter from the sun. As it goes with us, when it’s hot and we’ve gotten out of the sun for a bit, the same was probably for Abraham in that he may have been dozing a little, waiting for the heat to fade. There are some really key points in this story for us to notice.
The Lord drew my attention to a process in vs. 2, where it says, “he lifted up his eyes”, then “he looked”, and “when he saw”. If we look a little deeper than the English “simplization” of the verse, looking at the Hebrew, variations of seeing come to light. To say, “he lifted up his eyes” is an idiom meaning he was casually looking around, not looking at anything specific, like someone who is waking up from dozing, noticing their environment, with no particular focus. The next phrase is “he looked”. For some reason, something or someone has gotten Abraham’s attention, and now he’s not just generally looking around, now he’s focusing, specifically, on someone or something of special note. It would be the difference between my saying to you, “look” as opposed to saying look with a specific purpose, like not just “look”, but, “look at that tree”. Do you get what i’m saying? Three people suddenly being within his scope of vision was completely out of the ordinary of his visual environment, not to mention, i believe God was pointing them out to him, resulting in his sharpening his focus to see specifically. They were people who were not normally at his camp there in the middle of nowhere. The third phrase, “when he saw them” is a phrase used in reference to a type of prophetic seeing, it is used denoting that he was fully engaged, head and heart, like someone seeing, with eyes wide open, looking, specifically, at something amazing, something to be contemplated with intent. Using the word “when”, which is a time word, reveals that he must have rolled it around in his mind for a second as realization and revelation came to light.
i’m not saying all this to establish that i know something. It is easily understood i absolutely do not. God alone is the sole source of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, and if God doesn’t give us wisdom and insight we simply won’t have it. i am saying, though, there is wisdom here to be grasped in a modern society where uncertainty is deliberately advanced by those who’s hearts are darkened to leverage others for their own advantage at the expense of those held in uncertainty. God operates in the opposite. He wants us to be certain, and to be wise and have understanding. As a result the three facets of seeing, we can see how they describe how we come to understand things, they reveal God’s process, and point to His preferences, and standards.
The Lord’s heart is not only for us to wake up and grow up, but also to be interested enough in Him to take notice and understand. Today, too much of the church is simply spending their time being continually cycled through an organized program every Sunday. Typical leadership seems to have the attitude that congregations need to be managed, and as long as people are engaged in “activities”, they feel like they’re being a part of something larger. It is government by consent of the governed.
From the beginning, God almighty desired to be known by the object of His affection, us. He not only offers us deliverance and salvation, but He shares His attributes with us. He desires we be involved with Him, doing more than simply possessing fire insurance, but knowing Him and understanding, certain and confident He is all He says and more. His ways are better than ours, higher and profitable. He will, indeed, if we are willing to do more than just casual looking, God will open our eyes to “see” and comprehend. He wants us to do more than simply go to church, His desire is for us to advance our relationship with Him and the body of Christ. That is the “having life more abundantly” part spoken of in John10:10.
Not too long ago, upon hearing the scripture from John10:10, where Jesus said that He came that they may have life, and have it more abundantly, an inmate said, “i’ve been living a two part life. A life as a rebellious criminal, and another life as a believer. All my days i’ve been in poverty on both sides of that two part life, and now you’re telling me that Jesus wants me to have life abundantly? i’d sure like all that abundantly to show up about now.” The man was looking but not seeing, he may have been focusing in general, but not on the Lord specifically. His head and heart operated independently of each other, and were not in sync. There was always the undercurrent of criminal thinking, and if he got entirely too honest then the thrill of leveraging the outcome at the expense of someone else would be gone, his eyes would be opened, and then he’d have to be responsible. Just going to church didn’t solve any of his problems, but for a while, he sure did look good without actually having to be righteous. Let us do more than just live a life of continually rising from our drowsy state, more than just looking around with unfocused eyes, but be fully engaged with God, head and heart as one.
What do you think?