Clean your Glasses

Many times when I fall asleep at night, I fall asleep either with my glasses on or either close by me. Some time in the middle of the night I took them off and they may be on the night stand, or the floor, or in the bed. Because I didn't place them in the correct place, they become dirty and smudged.

Other times because of natural events, the same glasses can become less clear. I have long eyelashes so many times the natural moisture that emanates from me can cause the glasses to smear or the dirt particles in the air and surrounding areas can cause it to become stained.

Unlike some people, I can become accustomed to seeing through dirty glasses. In fact, there have been times I didn't even realize my glasses were dirty until someone would come up to me and say, "How can you see through those glasses", and I would take them off and realize how dirty they were.

It reminds me of the story of the little old lady who went to the gas station that still did old fashioned full service stops and as they were cleaning her windows she would say, "You missed a spot over there" and the attendant would clean it and then she would say, NO, you missed a spot over there and he would clean it and finally the attendant said, Ma'am, may I see your glasses, and he cleaned them and she said, Ok it's all better now.

We have many people who can see the wrong in everyone else's life. We see their attitude, their arrogance, their bossy nature, their cocky demeanor, their demanding posture, their exacting and finicky ways, their grievous and painstaking aura that is so demanding that it just makes it hard to be around them, work by them, go to church with them, stay married to them.

We say if only they would get better, clean their lives, repent of their sins, change their actions, then all would be well but have you ever stopped to consider that maybe the problem isn't that person? Maybe it's you and your viewpoint. When I wake up with stained glasses, my viewpoint is stained. It is impossible for me to see clearly if I haven't cleaned off the residue of filth in my own life.

That is why praying in the morning for the life of the believer is like the lens cloth to those of us who wear glasses. Yes we should thank God for another day's journey, and yes we should thank him Him for last night's resting and this morning's rising, yes you should thank Him that no hurt, harm, or danger befell you while you slumbered and slept but its more than that.

Every morning, we should pray and ask God to clean our glasses. Clean me of the filth, grime, mud, dirt and sin that clouds my perception, that alters my thinking, that shapes my images. We don't know what the day will bring, who we will meet, or how the actions of today's soap opera will affect us down the road, so Lord, Clean my glasses.

I am convinced that we would love better, see more good in others, learn to think and live in God's purpose rather than resting in the negativity of Satan if we allowed God to clean our glasses.

I cleaned my glasses this morning! It is amazing how clear things are!

Owens