How’s Your Vision?

Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.       –  Proverbs 29:18

How were things on the last visit to your ophthalmologist? Maybe your eyesight is not quite as sharp as it used to be. Vision tends to diminish over time as the eyes’ lenses lose pliability, seeing things at a distance becomes more difficult, and the ability to clearly focus may require assistance from medical appliances such as glasses. The Holy Spirit is your spiritual ophthalmologist—how would He diagnose your spiritual vision? Your focus sharpens as you spend time in God’s Word and in prayer, your sight improves as you lean on the Lord’s direction for your life, and your vision of what is in the distance grows clearer as you look toward eternity with Jesus. 

In The Power of Vision, George Barna wrote, “Vision becomes a bold reason for living. It is a badge of purpose that the bearer wears proudly and courageously.” Other versions of today’s verse say that without vision, the people perish. God has given you a vision for your life – He has revealed His overarching purpose to you in His Word, and, through deeper study and prayer, He entrusts you with greater insight.  

Just as individuals need God’s vision, so do countries. Without a long-term constructive vision, people wander aimlessly, without a real direction, indifferent to the ways of the Lord. Psalm 1:1-2 may apply to nations as well as individuals, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord.” Pray for the leaders of America to receive and embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that the nation might be blessed.