Im thinking a lot at the moment about vision.
Having clear vision is essential because without clear vision every day tasks would either not get accomplished or we would miss out on things. Recently I have moved over to varifocals and so now my vision is as good for those things far away as well as close up.
What is your vision like for the rest of your life?
It’s a hard question to answer and some of you are wondering how to survive today let alone next year or the rest of your life!
What about your children? We have a responsibility to guide them and to encourage them. As they get older they make their own choices. But often we say to ourself, “I don't want my son/daughter to make the same mistakes as I did” or “I want them to have the opportunities that I didn't have!”
Mark Twain once said - “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”
We often listen to our children’s wishes and these can be short sighted. As parents we surely should have a longer term vision.
A good question to ask yourself is - what do you want your son or daughter to become when they reach adulthood? The answer to this will reveal your vision and also what you are doing about that vision at the moment.
For some parents its pushing their children to the top in academia, for others it is making sure their child is emotionally stable. There’s nothing wrong with these things, but surely as Christian parents we want them to be (in the words of Paul to the church in Colossae) ‘mature in Christ’ (Col 1:28).
Being mature in Christ is obviously following Jesus and trusting him in life and death. Reaching maturity is a lifetime’s work and so lets help our children become mature through the way we set the example.
Our children observe us and they know what’s most important to us. So, what’s important to you?