Yesterday, my son posted a tidbit of wisdom about eternal perspective on social media. It caught my eye because my husband, Markel, and I are praying for 20/20 vision as we enter into this new decade. As I opened, “Anonymous”, a book written by Alicia Britt Chole, I was stunned to see that the title of today’s chapter is: “Eternal Perspective”!
The book is about the 30 hidden years of Jesus’s life before he launched into ministry. This chapter focuses on the 40 days in the wilderness - the place where Satan tempted Jesus in the high and dry places. In the desert, Satan tempts Jesus with provision, on the temple top he tempts with power and on the mountain's peek he tempts with praise - and yet through it al, Jesus maintains an eternal perspective!
Chole writes,
“I personally think Satan’s real hope was that Jesus would somehow - because of the heat or the hunger or the loneliness or the sheer dazzle of the world and its splendor - lose sight of eternity even for a moment and forget who he really was…Because it is when we forget who we are that we are most vulnerable to bowing down {to the distractions before us}.
But Jesus did not lose sight of eternity…
He remembered that he had been with the Father in the beginning and would return to the father at the end of his earthly life…"
He recalled the promise of His inheritance in Psalm 2:7-8…
She then concludes with this:
“What grows in an anonymous season? An eternal perspective."
Like a presenter blinded on a stage, we can often lose our perspective in the glare of the world's deadly glitter. Hidden, years, however, remove us form the world's hot spotlights and restore our spiritual vision. No longer hypnotized by earthly power or possessions or praise, we can once again distinguish between the temporal and eternal…”
This is such a solid visual of 20/20 vision! A friend recently reminded me that eternity is not a place we go, but a person we know...Jesus! As the decade launches, may we all keep our eyes fixed firmly on that which is eternal, allowing that lens to drive our thoughts, decisions, words and actions - all of which will draw us nearer to or further from experiencing eternity this side of heaven…
Less Stuff <∞> More Life
#2020 Vision
Amazing book that I highly recommend written by Alicia Britt Chole! Link to Amazon