When I was a child I would often hang my head off the edge of the bed and look at the room upside down. Suddenly the ceiling was the floor and the floor was the ceiling. I imagined what it would be like to walk on that new “floor,” high-stepping through doorways and making my way around light fixtures. The windows would come nearly to the new “floor” instead of being three feet above it. And it certainly would be easier to clean the cobwebs out of the corners. I would lie like that for nearly half an hour as my mind suddenly saw things from a new perspective.
As I have grown older, dealt with people who had many different problems, and had far too many “exciting” experiences myself, my perspective on life has shifted as well. In fact, if a person finds himself with no new insights on life, especially after the age of forty, he has probably not grown a spiritual inch. And as you grow, your thoughts should begin to shift. Things that look plain and simple when you have never experienced them have facets you never saw before. Suddenly you notice the light fixtures, the exhaust fans, and the part of the doorway that hangs nearly a foot from the ceiling. They were always there but because you never hung your head upside down you never saw them.
As a Christian my perspective must be spiritual, not carnal. It must be with a view toward Eternal Life, not life here on earth, something that could easily be described as looking at things upside down. As Paul tells us in Romans 8, we must have the mind of the spirit, not the mind of the flesh.
The correct perspective is a powerful tool in defeating Satan. In Hebrews 10:32-34, those Christians looked ahead toward a “better” and “abiding” possession. With that thought firmly locked in their minds, and from that perspective, they could endure imprisonment, ridicule and scorn, loss of their earthly possessions, and physical persecution. With the same perspective Christians could face hungry lions while singing hymns and praying.
On the other hand, a person whose perspective is only on earthly things will not be tough enough to give up the praise of men. He will not be strong enough to apologize. He will be intimidated by the thought of losing acceptance in his community. Living “the good life” will have a stranglehold on him and any trial of life will defeat him. A wrong perspective can turn us into weaklings.
Perspective affects every part of one’s life. Think about Jesus’ perspective on wealth (Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth...but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven where neither moth nor rust corrupt…), insults (who when he was reviled, reviled not again), status (he counted not being on equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself), his own desires (And Christ pleased not himself but [others]), and death (the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many).
No one understood Him because from their perspective he looked strange. He was walking on the ceiling upside down. We must be striving to get up there with Him, and when we finally make it, things that look so difficult from down on the floor will suddenly be much easier.
A correct perspective may be one of the most important things a Christian can have because it changes everything—every opinion, every moral, every purpose in life. It will determine the state of one’s heart, and therefore, the state of one’s soul.
…They dragged Jason and some of the brethren before the rulers of the city and cried, These who have turned the world upside down have come here also, Acts 17:6.
Dene Ward
As I have grown older, dealt with people who had many different problems, and had far too many “exciting” experiences myself, my perspective on life has shifted as well. In fact, if a person finds himself with no new insights on life, especially after the age of forty, he has probably not grown a spiritual inch. And as you grow, your thoughts should begin to shift. Things that look plain and simple when you have never experienced them have facets you never saw before. Suddenly you notice the light fixtures, the exhaust fans, and the part of the doorway that hangs nearly a foot from the ceiling. They were always there but because you never hung your head upside down you never saw them.
As a Christian my perspective must be spiritual, not carnal. It must be with a view toward Eternal Life, not life here on earth, something that could easily be described as looking at things upside down. As Paul tells us in Romans 8, we must have the mind of the spirit, not the mind of the flesh.
The correct perspective is a powerful tool in defeating Satan. In Hebrews 10:32-34, those Christians looked ahead toward a “better” and “abiding” possession. With that thought firmly locked in their minds, and from that perspective, they could endure imprisonment, ridicule and scorn, loss of their earthly possessions, and physical persecution. With the same perspective Christians could face hungry lions while singing hymns and praying.
On the other hand, a person whose perspective is only on earthly things will not be tough enough to give up the praise of men. He will not be strong enough to apologize. He will be intimidated by the thought of losing acceptance in his community. Living “the good life” will have a stranglehold on him and any trial of life will defeat him. A wrong perspective can turn us into weaklings.
Perspective affects every part of one’s life. Think about Jesus’ perspective on wealth (Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth...but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven where neither moth nor rust corrupt…), insults (who when he was reviled, reviled not again), status (he counted not being on equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself), his own desires (And Christ pleased not himself but [others]), and death (the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many).
No one understood Him because from their perspective he looked strange. He was walking on the ceiling upside down. We must be striving to get up there with Him, and when we finally make it, things that look so difficult from down on the floor will suddenly be much easier.
A correct perspective may be one of the most important things a Christian can have because it changes everything—every opinion, every moral, every purpose in life. It will determine the state of one’s heart, and therefore, the state of one’s soul.
…They dragged Jason and some of the brethren before the rulers of the city and cried, These who have turned the world upside down have come here also, Acts 17:6.
Dene Ward
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