To See Like Jesus

My eyesight is bad. I am so nearsighted that I can’t drive or work on a computer without glasses or contacts. My life would be very different if these helpful lenses didn’t exist. I’m thankful that I don’t have to live with vision issues. I can put on glasses or pop in my contacts to be able to see clearly!

Like my physical vision, sometimes I find that my spiritual vision also needs a corrective lens. Often, I see things, situations, or people through the eyes of pride, bitterness, jealousy, selfishness, or self-righteousness instead of through the eyes of Jesus. Luckily, just like there are solutions for my physical vision, there is also a remedy for my spiritual vision! Paul encourages us in 2 Corinthians 3:16-18:

But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. … And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

Praise God that when we surrender to Him, He will give us His eyes to see and His heart to love others as He loves us (1 John 4:19)!

In Luke 19, we read the story of Zacchaeus, a rich, tax collector who climbed a tree just to get a glimpse of Jesus as He passed by in the streets of Jericho (v. 1-4).

When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”

Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled. (v. 5-7 NLT)

Zacchaeus was so impacted by his time spent with Jesus, that he pledged to give to the poor and to seek restoration with anyone that he had previously defrauded (v. 8). Jesus responds to Zacchaeus’ transformation by saying:

“Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” (v. 9-10)

This account shows us how differently things look through the eyes of Jesus. Those mentioned in Luke 19:7 were displeased at Jesus’ choice to spend time with Zacchaeus. They saw him as a notorious sinner, a tax collector who cheated others out of their money.

But Jesus saw more than Zacchaeus’ mistakes and reputation. Jesus saw that Zacchaeus climbed a tree just for a chance to see Him. He saw that Zacchaeus opened his home to Jesus with great joy. And because of his time spent with Jesus, Zacchaeus experienced a radical life transformation. As Jesus said in verse 10, this is exactly why He came to earth; to seek and save the lost!

Let our hearts desire to see others not as the world sees them, but as Jesus sees them. Let us pray for the lost to experience the radical transformation that Christ has brought into our own lives.

Father God, please help us to see things through Your eyes. We pray that Your Holy Spirit would make us more like You every day so that we would be Your hands and feet on earth, loving others as You have loved us.

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! (2 Corinthians 5:16)

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Scripture is quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.