Recently I was reading Prov. 15:30 and it led to some reflection on how seeing depends on looking. While that is obvious on the surface it does go deeper.
The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, And a good report makes the bones healthy. Proverbs 15:30 NKJV
What we see can lead to sadness, joy, indifference – a whole range of emotions. We can see the same things and draw different conclusions. The verses below are taken from the story of Jesus ministering to the Samaritan woman in John 4.
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” John 4:34-35 NKJV
Jesus was clearly referencing a spiritual rather than a natural harvest but His point related to how we see. Jesus experienced joy in seeing the Samaritan woman coming to the well because He saw someone coming to encounter salvation. At this point His followers saw Samaritans as sinners from a despised race that they didn’t want to interact with. Jesus had been resting by the well while the disciples went off to buy lunch. The woman was gone when they returned but she returned with a crowd. Prior to the crowd showing up Jesus had sought to redirect their attention from seeing Samaritans to seeing a harvest for the gospel.
Jesus point is that we can see differently and in many ways what we see depends not just on the eyes we look through but on how our hearts are guiding our eyes. Look at Jesus comments below.
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure [g]of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. Matthew 12:33-35 NKJV
Implicit in Jesus comments is the idea that we are responsible for our heart condition that affects our seeing. So let’s pray that we will see as Jesus would have us see. That in an individual or a crowd we can look beneath the surface and see people who need ministry and a harvest for His kingdom.