Get the Big Picture

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:3-12

Galileo, an Italian astronomer and a devout believer, was one of the first persons to declare that the earth was not the center of the universe. With the latest invention in hand, the telescope, Galileo gave evidence to his discovery. Through its lense, he had gained a new perspective. He saw life differently and on a much grander scale.

When it comes to our view of God, we have the same tendency as those who first opposed Galileo. Our perspective is often shaded and narrow. We tend to forget that God sees things from an eternal perspective. He is not limited by time or space.

We struggle with the day-to-day problems because our perspective is not tuned into His big picture. We worry about become a temporal success when God says to keep our eyes on the eternal: “My ultimate goal is that you would glorify Me.” That is a serious twist to the world’s message that calls us to focus only on our wants and needs. The apostle Paul writes that our one goal in life should be “to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:12).

We are God’s only reflection of Jesus Christ on earth. Ask God to help you gain the big picture - for your life and His redemptive plan.

“Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” Colossians 3:2