Perspective's Importance

“Jesus gave them this answer:  ‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does’” John 5:19.

When my husband Bruce was a young child he used to go down in his dad’s workshop to watch him.  He learned a great deal by simply seeing how his father did things, and watching his father at work accomplishing the necessary tasks.  Bruce gradually began learning the same things through seeing things from his dad’s perspective.

The same is true in our Christian walk.  We are going to find ourselves in the middle of circumstances that we do not understand.  We are going to look at the emotions and attitudes of our heart and look for our own understanding and validation.  Our spiritual health will suffer if we do not look at our circumstances and challenges from God’s perspective.  When we are self-centered instead of God-centered our thoughts become bombarded with what was done to us…what rights we have in any given situation…what entitlement is ours.

This morning my Bible Study presented an interesting experiment that any of us would be fearful to perform.  The challenge was to see to what degree we truly deny ourself, take up God’s will and follow Him.  ‘The most challenging part of your relationship with God is being God-centered.  If you recorded a day in your life, you might find that your prayers, your attitudes, your thoughts, and your actions are intensely self-centered.  You may not see things from God’s perspective; rather, you may try to explain to God what your perspective is’ Experiencing God, p. 121. 

What if Jesus as He hung on the cross acted on His own perspective instead of doing what He saw His Father doing – saving mankind.  From His Father’s perspective, the cross made perfect sense… but from the perspective of the One who was unjustly treated, the cross would never make sense.  Looking from His own perspective, Jesus would have climbed down off that cross if given the chance.  However, Christ Jesus was all about watching His Father, adjusting His attitude to God’s perspective and following Him into whatever circumstance necessary…come what may.

While we can never be perfect we can certainly be watchful and prayerful.  God would never ask us to be something we could not be or do something that was impossible.  Through the Holy Spirit we can live a life looking through the perspective of God’s heart.  What would this look like in the life of a Christian? 

‘Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things…put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you’ Phil 4:9.