Faith Requires Imagination

In review of 2 Corinthians 4:18 it says, “We fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

Bottom Line:

Don’t focus on what you physically see today, it’s only temporary. Rather fix your gaze on what is unseen for it is eternal.

What this means to me:

I should fix my attention not on what I can see, but on the things that are unseen.  For the things I see now will soon be gone and not last forever. For this reason I should keep my mind on the things that cannot be seen.

When I can’t see something physically, I have to imagine it in my mind. What I’m learning is that imagination is essential to living by faith.

Hebrews 11:1 tells me, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see” (NLT).

Faith is when we hope for something, and we know it’s going to happen. It helps to have a picture of this hope in mind.

Hebrews 11 is a listing of God’s Hall of Fame. As I read through the heroes of faith, I can see that every one of them became heroes of faith because they used their imagination.

For instance, God said to Abraham, “You’re 90 years old, and you have no kids. But I’m going to change your name from Abram to Abraham, which means ‘father of a great nation.’”

He told Abraham to go outside at night and count the stars, that’s how many grandchildren and great grandchildren he would have in his family tree, the nation of Israel! What God is doing when he tells Abraham to go count stars, is activating his imagination. He’s saying, “I want you to visualize what I’m going to do in your life.”

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:18, “We fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

Even though I can’t see the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, they’re going to last for eternity. Even though I can’t see my own soul, it to is going to last for eternity.

This verse reminds me to focus on the things that will last, the things you can’t actually see with your eyes. In order to focus on things I can’t see, I use my imagination. This is much like Stephen Covey’s second habit in the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, and it’s to “Begin with the end in mind.” This principle also re-enforces the notion of getting a clear visualization or picture of what it will look like at the end.  Practicing this principle and having this type of vision helps develop the plans and steps required to get to the end goal.

In summary, I should fix my attention not on what I can see, but on the things that are unseen. For the things I see now will soon be gone and not last forever. I should keep my mind on the things that cannot be seen and my imagination will help shape my life. It is essential step to living by faith.