My bifocals

I wear bifocals. They are inconvenient in many ways. Being not very patient, I used to run up and down the stairs but I now I don’t. The stairs don’t appear to be the same as they are seen through the bifocals. Experience has taught me to slow down when I approach a step. I learnt that I should not judge reality with my own subjective vision.
Whether it is bifocals or  not, it is important that the glasses are clean. Sometimes, I am so lazy I don’t care to clean my glasses for days at a stretch. Then I wash or wipe it only when the sight is so hazy. A clean pair of glasses is important for clear vision so is clarity in life for judging others. If someone looks not so clean it could be that my view of them is simply hazy.
Whether we wear glasses or not, we don’t have control on our eyes. It is our mind that drives our eyes. Though what we see are accidental, what we gaze upon or doing a double-take is certainly the work of our mind. We can’t blame the glasses for what we chose to delight in seeing.
That is whey Jesus said, "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light...” (Matthew 6:22). Jesus was certainly talking about the eye that is driven by our minds, not just the organ. It is true that Jesus used a hyperbole in Matthew 18:9: “And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.” Though it is a bit of exaggeration to push a point home, the truth remains. It is better to have an eye that causes us to sin than not having.

Know where you are going!

But before we take our journey to that side of the grave we need to make sure where we are going. Please make sure where you will end up before that transfer from this life to the other happens.

A few days back, a teenager in Pune killed himself by hanging. He was from a well-to-do family happy family, got a lot of love and care from his elder sisters and brothers. However, he decided to die just to satisfy his curiosity. A lesson in his Marathi textbook about the martyrdom of India's freedom fighters made him curious about death. He used to ask his parents and teachers what happens after death. The answer his parents of this Hindu boy gave seems not to have satisfied him nor of his teacher. Finally, he decided to find out by himself. The police told the press that he committed suicide in order to find out for himself what happens after death. When he killed himself, he was not sure where he was going and what is going to happen to him.

People were always fascinated by what happens after death. Nobody were ever able to return to life and report back to us what is there beyond death. This adds to the curiosity. However the Bible doesn't leave us confused. It is very clear that, "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him" (Hebrews 9:27-28).

Death is inevitable and Bible makes it very clear what happens after death. One thing that is certain about death is a judgment that is waiting for all. Those who put their trust in Christ will pass on to a life of continually enjoying the presence of God and others to eternal condemnation. However, what decides what type of life waits for us there is how we take the life on this side of eternity. This life is our opportunity to grab the great salvation that Christ has offered to us through is death on the cross.

But before we take our journey to that side of the grave we need to make sure where we are going. Please make sure where you will end up before that transfer from this life to the other happens.