Spiritual Lessons Between Clearance Racks

I stumbled on a blog I wrote a while ago that has provoked new inspiration in me recently. Thought I would re-share :) 

The other day I was in Ross shopping with the intentions of buying a cheap coffee mug. Of course I stumbled upon every other section of the store with "innocent" intentions of only looking as I made my way back wall where the coffee mugs were located. As every girl, and most guy, can testify to... these "innocent" intentions left me wandering through the store for about an hour picking up, trying on, and looking through different items and clothing. The more that I wondered, the more that I put into my shopping cart. Of course, I was only 'saving' them in case I made the decision that I really needed them (and I can proudly tell you that at the end of my trip to Ross i DID only purchase the coffee mug).

However, I did learn a spiritual lesson while I rummaged through the clearance leftovers and it was found in a saying printed on the front of a shirt that read: 

"It's not How you Look. Its How You See"

The front of the shirt had a picture of an  owl wearing glasses with these wise words written across the owl's chest. I didn't buy the shirt, but for some reason the words stuck with me this whole week. 

"Its not how you look. Its how you see." 

I did some googling on owls (Its just like me to do that.. waist my time looking up the unimportant things while I leave the 'to do list' on the side awaiting it's completion) and I found some interesting facts. Did you know that owls can see perfectly during the day but exceptionally well in the night hours? Or that their eyes are fixed in their sockets and so they rotate their heads up to 3/4th of the way around to change the position of their vision. Also, because their forward-facing eyes, they have highly developed binocular vision.

What would an owl, a bird with exceptionally enhanced vision, need glasses for? 

Often times we are skilled at looking but  unskilled when it comes to seeing. Our eyes have adjusted to the darkness and we see "perfectly", but what happens when the Light is turned on? Proverbs 21:2 says, "Every way of a man is right in His own eye, but the Lord weighs the hearts." and it says in Proverbs 15:30 that "The light of the eyes rejoices the heart." If God weighs the heart, and the light rejoices the heart, then there must be a positive connection between the two, right? We must learn to see in Light. 

The definition of looking is: "to turn one's eyes toward something or in some direction in order to see"

Seeing follows looking with the definition: "to perceive (things) mentally; discern; understand" If you look without seeing you fail to accomplish the purpose. Just like owls, Christians are to have forward-set eyes, "Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2) Also like owls, God has given His children 'binocular vision' that enables them to perceive, discern, and understand the world around us as we put on HIS EYES. 

Now, don't take me literally on this, but I think we should follow the example of the owl and put our glasses on; for it's the lens through which we look at the world that determines if we are truly able to see. 

My son, give me your heart, And let your eyes observe my ways. (Proverbs 23:26)

"Its not how you LOOK. Its How you SEE."