(To listen to the podcast for this blog post click here )

I have been reminded lately that the lens that we look through is so important.  And this is reinforced each time I reflect on the poem ‘The Touch of the Master’s Hand’ by Myra Brooks Welch in 1921.

Indeed our perspective affects everything we do or even what we don’t do.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we are told, ‘therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.’

Just let that thought soak into your mind.  We do matter. 

We matter because of whose we are, irrespective of the negative things that we may hear and see in our environment.  We can be assured that God sees us through the lens that says that we are precious to Him.

So irrespective of past experiences, we can start anew in Christ and really focus on living the abundant life that He desires for each of us.

Just knowing that God accepts us can take such a heavy weight from off our shoulders.

Then we can start to really focus on the fact that life is meaningful, and we can find joy in exploring what this looks like in our daily decisions and activities.

So as we really immerse in the knowledge of who we are in Christ and the value that God has placed on each of us, we experience this knowledge going from just being intellectual knowledge to becoming an experiential knowledge.

For the conviction to deepen, we can in practical ways also think of this knowledge like organizations treat their mission statement.

Organizations make the concerted effort to put the mission and vision statement where everyone can see it, and they even may add the statements to brochures, so that it is clear why the organization exist; what purpose the organization is seeking to fulfil.   It is not left to the imagination. 

The mission is repeated until it become a part of the thinking of the entire organization and each staff member and even the customers.

So as Christians, the value that God has placed in us, becomes the compass and reference point from which everything we do and think is built and is directed.

So as God’s redeemed children, we can reference our lives to what God has revealed to us.

Let us be revived today as we embrace that we all new creations in Christ, because we have had the privilege of the Master’s touch in our lives.  Then when we have experienced God’s transforming power, and get a glimpse of what He wants for us, then everything else starts to take shape.

So as we see ourselves through God’s lens, we can see our purpose and interests through God’s lens.

With this frame of mind and reference point, the whole notion of living intentionally takes on a greater and deeper meaning.  Then how we spend our time, the plans we pursue, how we take care of ourselves and relate to others all matter, because we understand that we are precious in God’s sight.

We are new creations in Christ.  That is something to be thankful for and to celebrate.

Be Blessed

Alison