No, not a Super Bowl or a U2 concert; not the Oscars, or the coronation of a King. I mean…

 

SPECTACLES

This is what eyeglasses were known as in an era gone by. Gramma or grandpa saying, “Where are my spectacles? I put them right here by my chair and now they’re gone! Has anyone seen my spectacles?”

 

I began wearing “spectacles” in elementary school. For the most part, glasses are worn for vision correction. I’m nearsighted. I have severe astigmatism. Without corrective lens, instead of one signal light, I see them in multiples. The same with a full moon. But today help is available ‘quick as a wink’ (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

 

Reading glasses, contacts, and in more recent years, lasik procedures can be found almost everywhere. Safety glasses protect the eye from random flying debris, or radiation, or in some sports activities. Glass frames are chosen in order to look sexy, cool, or at the very least, not weird.

 

BIBLICAL SPECTACLES

John Calvin considered Scripture to be like a pair of spectacles enabling us to interpret what we see in creation. This famous French theologian and leader in the Protestant Reformation, began all of his services in Geneva with Psalm 124:8, “Our help is in the name of the Lord.” It was something he viewed as an essential factor in understanding one’s relationship with God.

 

Calvin believed, though man may know God through creation, what theologians refer to as “general revelation,” this cannot in and of itself give mankind a saving knowledge of God. For this reason God “added the light of his Word in order that he might make himself known unto salvation.”

[1]

 

Yet according to a LifeWay survey (Sept 27—Oct 1, 2016) of 1000 Americans about their views of the Bible, significant divides were found in how familiar we are with Christian scripture. According to this survey, one in five Americans, has read through the Bible at least once. That includes 11 percent who’ve read the entire Bible once, and 9 percent who’ve read it through multiple times.

 

If the Scripture is like a pair of spectacles, enabling us to interpret what we see in creation and experience in life, it’s worth noting the older people become, the greater the chances are (93% between the ages of 65-75) we will need corrective lenses. And if, for any reason, your spiritual vision seems defective, aided with the spectacles of Scripture, you can translate what you see into your everyday life. Not selling, just sayin’.

 

Another 12 percent say they have read almost all of the Bible, while 15 percent have read at least half. Fifty-three percent have read relatively little of the Bible. One in 10 has read none of it, while 13 percent have read a few sentences. Thirty percent say they have read several passages or stories.[2]

 

Know what? Rather than grouping around in the dark, don’t you think interpreting creation and your experience in life is worth a fresh look through spectacles guaranteed to change the way you see things?

 

“The people dwelling in darkness

have seen a great light,

and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,

on them a light has dawned.”[3]

 

 

 

 

[1] INSTITUTES, Chapter 6, Section 1

[2] https://lifewayresearch.com/2017/04/25/lifeway-research-americans-are-fond-of-the-bible-dont-actually-read-it/

[3] Matthew 4:16