I can see clearly now...

I never realized how clearly I couldn't see until I could actually see clearly. 

Let me explain. I've worn hard contact lenses since I was a sophomore in high school. Tiny, little, rigid lenses no bigger than a dime which suctioned themselves to just the brown colored iris of my eye gave me the ability to see clearly. That is, at the beginning. Unlike soft contacts, you can wear hard contacts for significantly longer, some times years longer, which is what I did while I was on the mission field. I took meticulous care of my contacts. I "enzymed" them weekly and cleaned them religiously. I took painstaking care to make sure I never lost or dropped one. With no insurance coverage for new contacts or glasses, I just acted like most missionaries and just made do with what I had. I couldn't complain. I could see very well and my eyes never bothered me. 

Then I started my new job. And with that came duh-duh-duh-DAH insurance coverage for eyes!! Oh, happy day!! I went in yesterday and finally got my eyes checked. My prescription hadn't changed, but I knew I needed new contacts. The doctor recommended soft contacts. I was a bit hesitant. I've had hard contacts for almost two decades. I know how to take care of hard contacts. I can pop them in and out like a pro. I know how they are supposed to feel in my eye. I know the routine for how to religiously clean then. But I caved. Sure, why not. You're the doctor.

Man, it's like a whole  new world! I hadn't realized how gradually my old contacts were not serving my sight well. Slowly, without my permission or me noticing, they were no longer as strong as they used to be. WOAH! With these new soft contacts, I now have amazing clarity! And I no longer have to go through the meticulous and constant cleaning, polishing, and enzyming. I just throw these away every few weeks and get a new pair, keeping a constant and instant clarity to my world. 

Then, to my surprise and delight., I was told I am could have lasik surgery to completely correct my vision. No more contacts, no more glasses. I could wake up every day with this same type of clarity. WOAH. Mind blown. I could finally donate all MY glasses to our eye clinics in Costa Rica and Nicaragua...that would be ironic...

So what is the point in me telling you all this? I mean, who really wants to read someone's blog about their new contacts, anyway. Well here's the point:

When we live under the Law, before we know who God is or what he did for us by allowing Jesus to come and die for us, we see the world through hard lenses. They need to be meticulously cleaned and polished constantly. They're rigid and, though we get really, really used to them in our eye balls, they are still uncomfortable and can easily irritate our spiritual eyes.  When we accept Jesus into our hearts, he throws away those old, rigid lenses for softer, more flexible lenses. These lenses don't need the meticulous cleaning like our old lenses. We just repent and throw the past away, looking forward to constant clear vision while never holding on to the fogginess of our past. Then when we start actually living by the Spirit, we have no need for lenses at all! The Lord completely heals and changes the shape our spiritual eyes so they are in the same shape as his! And that, my friend, is complete freedom.