Jack was becoming frustrated with his golf game as he aged. “I still hit the ball well,”
he explained to his wife, “But my vision has gotten so bad that I can’t see where it lands anymore.”
"Why don't you take my uncle Gene with you," Jack’s wife asked. “He’s 90, but his vision is still perfect. He can watch the ball for you and it will do him good to be out.”
So, Jack took Gene along the next week. On the first tee, Jack hit a perfect shot and the ball was really taking off as it disappeared straight down the fairway.
“Did you see it?” Jack asked.
“Sure, I saw it,” Gene answered, “I just can’t remember where it went.”
Those of us with lots of frequent-living days can relate to both problems – failing vision and forgetting quickly. But it’s not just we “mature” folks who suffer from these problems.
God’s spokesman Peter warned that anyone can suffer from failing spiritual vision and memory. Referring to the virtues that Christians are to add to our lives, Peter wrote, “But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins” (2 Peter 1:9).
Nearsighted? Sure, anybody can live for today. It’s even easy to prepare for a few days at a time. It’s more challenging to prepare today for life in the distance. It’s hard to see clearly today what will be best for our families 20 years from now. It takes good vision to see which way to steer so we’ll finish life in the places we hope to be.
Peter’s point is that, while we may not fully anticipate everything to come, we can prepare by adding qualities to our life that will prepare us to succeed whatever comes.
And forgetful? Sometimes, we have spiritual ADD. We get distracted by bells and whistles of life. If we aren’t careful, we forget what is most important.
As another year winds down, give yourself a little memory and vision test. How well did you remember what was important over the past 10 months? How clearly did you see what needed to be finished by the end of 2021?
As the years glide by, let’s keep our spiritual vision and memory sharp so we can see where we are going – and remember where it is we prefer to finish.