Through The Kaleidoscope

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ike most people, I have several important things in my home that I simply will not part with.  Some of them I purchased on my trips to Europe.  Some I have come across in little shops or in out-of-the-way places.  Some of them are gifts from dear friends and others are moments captured with the aid of a camera.  But perhaps the most precious items are ones that my parents have given me over the years.

There is the clock that hangs in my living room which was a Christmas present from mom and dad.  There is the clock hanging in my bedroom which they presented to my brother and me as a house-warming present when we moved into our home on Oak Street.   There is the silverware in my kitchen that mom brought and when I moved into my first apartment. It is the same silverware I used growing up and I love it.  I also have my great grandfather’s ice cream scoop and the scoop my mom used to measure sugar when she made cakes.

There are several little knick knacks around the house that mean very little, if anything, to my visitors but they mean the world to me.  One of these items is a small kaleidoscope that resides on my coffee table.  Mom and dad found it in an antique store in Ohio and brought it back to me.  It is very simple, made of three mirrors joined together to form a triangular tube.  At one end is a piece of metal that securely holds one of four differently colored marbles that rest in holes cut in the wooden base that holds the kaleidoscope.

The marbles are very unremarkable.  One is blue, one is yellow, one is red, and one is light orange.  Taken by themselves they aren’t very inspiring but once placed in the end of the kaleidoscope, they spring to life with unimaginable shapes and patterns.  What was a few seconds earlier a commonplace marble changes into a vibrant splash of color that changes formations as the marble is turned around and around.

The secret of the kaleidoscope lies in its ability to make us see an image, not for what it is, but for what it can become when seen from another perspective.  This idea was not lost on Jesus.  In fact, when calling his first disciples, he saw them not for what they were but for what they could become.

In Matthew 4:18-19 we find these words, “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”  Here is Jesus walking along the shore when he spots two ordinary marbles, Peter and Andrew.  They have been fishing all of their lives and have earned their living from the sea.  They are like so many others who ply their trade on the Sea of Galilee.  But if we look closer at this passage, we see that Jesus sees so much more in these brothers than is visible to the ordinary eye.

Notice Jesus words, “I will make you…”  These men are fisherman, anyone can see that.  But Jesus sees so much more. He sees them not as fishermen, but as fishers of men.  When seen through the eyes of Jesus, Peter and Andrew are no longer men who catch fish; they are men who catch souls. What they can become is unimaginable to them but is crystal clear to Jesus.

Is it any different with us?  God sees deep into our hearts and souls.  He sees us not for what we are but for what we can become through a relationship with his son, Jesus Christ.  What may seem ordinary to us becomes alive once we are placed in Jesus Christ and our lives are viewed from God’s perspective.  Wherever you are in your walk today with the Lord, rest assured his plans for you are beyond anything you can imagine.  Only when we are placed in Christ can we ever fully reveal what is inside.  What does God see when he looks at your life today?  Are you willing to see yourself from his perspective?