So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)
When our children were young, we wanted them to be engaged in our family Advent devotions. Besides the symbolic candles in the Advent wreath, we created a basket full of small boxes. After our Bible reading time, one of the children would choose a box and open it, and create a “devotional thought” based on the object inside. A marble, a thimble, a wooden butterfly, a button, a pompom, a piece of sponge, or a seashell.
Whatever they found, they would explain some truth about Jesus: we can hold a marble in our hand, the way our Creator holds the world. A thimble protects our thumb, as Jesus protects our souls. A butterfly dies and is reborn, as we will be one day because of the death and Resurrection of Jesus.
Each tangible object—a thing that is seen—could remind us of a larger truth—the thing that is not seen. Some days it’s a challenge to see Jesus at work in our lives. The temporary “what is seen” fills our entire field of vision, distracting us and even causing us to obsess over it.
Our days fill with goals we want to reach, people we wish would change, troubles that grab our focus. Yet in the midst of our day, those tangible objects and visible events can springboard our thoughts toward the eternal. The goals that feel overwhelming can remind us of our reliance on Christ and His provision.
The irritating family member can provide a place to practice Jesus’s call to forgiveness. Our struggle with pain can call to mind the beautiful mercy of Jesus and the promise of new, whole bodies one day. Each day becomes an adventure when we find ways to look beyond what is seen, to what is eternal.
Faith Step: Look around the place where you’re sitting. Choose one tangible object and think of a way it can remind you of a truth about Jesus.
