CLEOEJACKSONIII.COM
  • My Home Page
  • My Life and Ministry
  • My Ongoing Thoughts
  • My Favorite Bible Verses
  • My Favorite Stories
  • My Favorite Jokes
  • My Favorite Quotations
  • My Favorite Web Links
  • My Contact Info
"Helping Others Communicate"

I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW!

1/13/2019

 
Johnny Nash once had a number one hit single titled " I Can See Clearly Now!".  After what I recently went through, I can certainly relate!

Sometime in the fall of last year, I began to notice that the music channels in the upper region of our cable television selection were not working properly.  Not that I visit them every day; but occasionally I like to put the television on a music channel and listen while I work on projects around the house.

I noticed that whenever I put the television on a music channel, I would be given the message that it would be available “shortly”. The problem was that “shortly” became “never”.  I know because I decided to run an experiment. The day after Thanksgiving, I put the television in our bedroom on the “Sounds of the Seasons” channel and left it there just to see how long it would take. Twelve hours later, the “shortly” message was still being shown!

At this point, I was thoroughly heartbroken.  I knew Christmas was coming on; and I was looking forward to having Christmas carols and seasonal songs in the background to help set the mood for Christmas.  Alas, however, it was not meant to be.  I went the whole Christmas season listening to CDs and iTunes instead.

But when January rolled around, I found myself tired of paying for services I was not receiving.  So I called the cable company; and they promptly sent a technician out at the agreed upon time. After voluminous tests, he concluded that I had an interruption in my signal and informed me that, in such cases, the music channels always went out first.

He went outside and found that a wire had somehow been exposed out at the box.  This wire had obviously been chewed upon by some varmint.  Having replaced the wire, he then tested the incoming signal and determined that it was finally correct. But still no music channels!  He continued testing and then concluded that my box was bad and needed replacing – which he next did. 

The new cable box was much thinner and sleeker than the old one.  It was also an HD capable box; whereas the prior one was not.  I quickly told him I did not need an HD box because, even though our children had gotten us a big, fancy modern flat screen television with all the proverbial bells and whistles, I was simply too cheap to pay for HD.  As a result, I did not need that particular box.

At this point, he connected the television and, to my amazement, showed me that I did indeed have access to HD programming. The cable package I have had for years includes HD!  I had been paying for the HD signal all along, even though I had not known it!

I was simply stunned!  All this time, your truly, a.k.a. “Mr. Tightwad”, could have been watching sports, movies, and documentaries in high definition and never knew it! All along, I had been watching an HD signal though a non-HD capable box, all while smugly assuring myself that I was being frugal.  In reality, all I was doing was cheating myself!  Something had been bought and paid for; but I had not embraced  it.  And worse of all, I had no one to blame but little ol’ me!

But not anymore!  For the same amount of money per month, I am now living in a whole new world!  I have now had my digital eyes opened and have seen the light of high definition!  And I like it!  So much so that there is now no going back!  I won’t watch another ball game in low definition!  Nor another movie!  Nor another documentary!  Not me! 

Of course, somewhere in all of this is a good life lesson.  In the New Testament Gospel of John (chapter 10, verse 10), Jesus tells us that He came in order that we might each have a full and abundant life.  The New International Version says He came that we might “have life, and have it to the full”!

And yet, as I look around, I realize that many who profess faith in Jesus Christ do not always necessarily seem to enjoy a full, abundant, and/or meaningful life.  Quite frankly, it seems as if they are living beneath their privilege! 

To anyone experiencing such frustration, I would offer the following for consideration.  Jesus Christ freely gives eternal life to all who seek Him.  But it is important to remember that the wonderful thing about eternal life is that it involves both a quantity of life and a quality of life.  It involves the hereafter, to be sure. But it also involves the here and now! 

To be sure, having eternal life means that we will one day live forever with God in His presence in a wonderful and perfect world called Heaven.  What a day, glorious day that will be!  But eternal life means more than this.  It also means that we can a quality of life here in this world that greatly surpasses anything this world has to offer!

Now, if Jesus is offering all of this to us, then why would we ever not avail ourselves of it?!  Now, do not get me wrong, here.  I am not naively asserting that once we embrace Christ as our Savior, all of our problems will somehow automatically disappear.  But I am asserting that we can live a full, meaningful, and victorious life here and now even in the midst of difficulty!

It all has to do with our perspective!  Once we are in Christ, we can then view life in an entirely different way!  We can see this world and its concerns more clearly, more realistically, and in their proper perspective!  We can look at life in spiritual high definition!

It is not by accident, therefore, that Jesus’ statement in John chapter 10 comes immediately after He has healed a blind man in John chapter 9.  The testimony of that man was that he had been blind; but now he could see!  Once he encountered Jesus Christ, for the first time in his life, he could truly see things in all of their splendor!  And thanks to Jesus, so can we!

SCRIPTURE SOURCES: 
https://biblehub.com/john/10-10.htm and https://biblehub.com/niv/john/9.htm.

Comments are closed.

    Cleo E. Jackson, III

    Occasionally I will add
    a few thoughts to my blog. If you find them inspirational, I will be
    honored.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010

    Categories

    All