Focusing in

Can you do those stereograph things?

I can't. Stereographs are those images that you look like nothing but static. You look at them casually and nothing is there. Supposedly, though, if you cross your eyes and look a certain way and focus in the right direction, they will reveal some sort of hidden image. I've never been successful at finding the image.

I remember, when I still lived with my parents, that my brother was really into them one year. He got a calendar that had a new stereograph image every month. I looked at the same image for a month and I still couldn't make the image materialize. Not if I crossed my eyes or looked over my nose or turned around three times and stood on my head.

I just can't seem to see them. They just don't work for me.

I've been told, though, that it is a matter or perspective. Just like 3D glasses in a movie, the idea is to change your perception. In the case of stereographs, you are changing the way your eyes look at the image. With the 3D classes, you're forcing both of your eyes to see the image 3-dimensionally through a set of different colored lenses.

It's all about focus. If you don't have the right focus, you won't see the image the way it was intended to be seen. It will be blurry or out of focus if you don't see it right.

That's what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 6:22-24. He says that we have to focus on Jesus or we won't see what God wants us to see. He is particularly referencing money. If we view everything with a focus on money, we will never to be to fully do what God intends for us to do. We will always do what's best for our wallet or pocketbook.

In a sense, we will become a slave to our desires for more money. We will do what we have to keep it, save it and protect it. And that may include not tithing or giving or helping others. That is counter to what Jesus teaches.

Instead, he tells us that Jesus needs to be our primary focus. We need to see everything through the lens of Christ. Only then can we see clearly. Only then can we truly follow him.

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