Life is busy and days are a blur. We rush from place to place – constantly moving past masses of humanity, people everywhere! But, do we really see them?
Jesus did. The One whose all seeing eye peers into the heart of man and sees the end from the beginning, He saw not just the multitudes but the individuals. I fear that all too often I see people but I do not really see them.
We observe dress styles, witness interactions, and notice facial expressions. But do we see them as they really are? As God sees them?
- We must see people as fellow human beings. Color, culture, and clothes do not represent the person. We are all made of one blood (Acts 17:26). We are all made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). We are not, as some religious people love to say, “all children of God” but we are all created by God.
- We must see each person as someone’s father, mother, brother, sister, son, or daughter. They are not only real people, they have relationships. Someone loves them (God most of all!), and so should we.
- We must see people as eternal souls. Yes, they are sinners, just as we are. But they are also souls for whom Jesus died. They are precious to God and will spend forever in either Heaven or Hell.
We see them…but do we really see them?
It is too easy to see the surface and miss the spiritual reality. To see people in time and forget to view them through the lens of eternity. To see individuals from the perspective of earth and miss the view from God’s vantage point. Ask the Lord to help you see people as He sees them.
This week I was preaching from Acts 3 where Paul and John were used of God to heal a man who had been lame from his birth. He was a broken man, a beggar. Multitudes of religious people rushed past him every day on their way into the Temple to worship God, but they barely turned to see a man who was just trying to survive.
And the lame beggar probably grew accustomed to giving cursory glances toward the many who passed him. When he did make eye contact it was only with the hope that they would toss a few pennies in his direction. Perhaps he averted his eyes in shame and, like many in our world today, lived with his head down.
The story records that “seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us” (Acts 3:3-4).
He saw them. But they intentionally, thoughtfully, spiritually looked at him. They saw him as he was and they saw him as God could make him!
It is wonderful to note that their desire in getting this man to look at them was so that they could help him see Jesus. Look to the Lord…look at others…then help others look to the Lord!
May God deliver us from seeing people as a means to an end or a hindrance to our agenda. People are not to be used and abused. They are not a nuisance or an inconvenience. They are real people, fellow sinners, needy souls.
Do we really see them?
“Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest” (John 4:35).
