“For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.”
is shortsighted
We obtain the English word “myopic” from the Greek for “shortsighted.” To be “shortsighted” is to be near-sighted. Spiritually, this means being extremely limited in spiritual understanding. There is a problem with spiritual comprehension in this person. He only sees what is in front of his nose and only the temporal. He does not have the capacity to discern spiritual things. He has fallen short of rich knowledge of the Lord.
Myopia means that the distant rays of light fall short of the retina of the eye. That light is only a blur. Aristotle used this word for a nearsighted man. He is not stone blind; he has some spiritual sight but sin-sick sight.
PRINCIPLE:
The spiritually shortsighted person sees only what is miserly.
APPLICATION:
Some Christians are near-sighted. They cannot see anything but their world of needs. A mature Christian, however, has a full grasp of the Lord Jesus; he can witness the eternal values that He gives; he sees beyond temporal matters. He does not value the seven items of the chorus of verses 5-7.
Some Christians never developed their faith. They do not “add to their faith” (2 Pe 1:5); their faith never increases. They do not move on or up or out. They stayed right where they were. They run on a treadmill spiritually. They do not get anywhere. No underdeveloped Christian wants to share the faith in the wonder of our Lord Jesus. They find it difficult to walk with Him and have a regular devotional life. There is always some reason. It is either too hot or too cold; it is too dry or too slippery. It is always “too” something.
He 12:1-2, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [those who lived by the faith of chapter 11], let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
No Christian should remain a spiritual babe for ten years. It is imperative that he get out of his spiritual diapers as soon as possible. There will be hard times through the turbulent spiritual teenage period; however, if he continues to grow, he can apply truth to experience for himself and reproduce himself spiritually.
So many Christians are stunted in their spiritual growth and end up dwarfed as spiritual pigmies. People must carry them around on spiritual pillows; everyone must cater to them because their feelings become hurt quickly. When their feelings become hurt so easily, then they gossip; they will even slander others. They would not dare think about adultery but readily detract from others. People must stroke them gently, or they will blow up in anger. That deference will get them through the immediate emergency, but someone will soon need to nurse them through another crisis. Mature Christians must descend upon them to nurse them through another problem. Then they fall again, and mature believers rush to their side to pick the cinders out of their flesh. They get this person on their feet again to get them going again spiritually. That is one thing as a new Christian, but it is another if they have been a Christian for ten years. A child using a milk bottle after ten years is not a pretty sight.
Are you willing to be weaned from your spiritual immaturity?
