You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:5

A few years back, I paid for annual eye exams and then promptly failed to get my eyes checked.  The thought of wasting my money finally shamed me to stop using time as an excuse and go in.

Sure enough, I was able to go in and utilize the service and learned my prescription had changed slightly.  On top of that, I was pleased to find out that my eyes were healthy and I could keep it moving.

What I found interesting though is that the doctor, though I didn’t know him personally, scolded me for having not made the time to come in sooner. We discussed some other options I had considered and I peppered him with questions that he provided his opinion on.

I ordered some back up glasses later that week and didn’t give it a second thought.  Until I was reading this scripture.

As we make our way through the world, we have to ensure we can see clearly.  As we pray for our friends and family, listen to the events of strangers in passing, and mediate, we have to ensure our vision is on point.

We “will see clearly” when we get those annual exams at service, bible study, and removing the impediments in our spiritual lives.  For me this meant slowing down on conversations about sports and speeding up on my testimonies, decreasing time spent in certain places that weren’t growing me and increasing my attendance around the people and in environments that take me higher and/or raise others up.

Sometimes our vision becomes blocked or a bit blurry. Those are the times in life we may need to get checked and have a seasoned voice push us a bit.

Heavenly Father, we desire to be more focused on you. Give us a sharp and crisp vision of what it is we seek and if it isn’t from you, we desire to remove it from our line of sight. As we clear out obstructions, we know we then will be better prepared to aid others and not be hypocrites. Amen!