Living Magnifyingly!

1 Sing to the LORD a new song;
Sing to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Sing to the LORD, bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. 3 Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. 4 For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols ,
But the LORD made the heavens. 6 Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His name;
Bring an offering and come into His courts. 9 Worship the LORD in holy attire;
Tremble before Him, all the earth. 10 Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved;
He will judge the peoples with equity ."

- Psalms 96:1-10 (NASB)

Before I begin I must give credit where credit is due: I must thank and acknowledge John Piper as the originator of this illustration. It is a wondrous picture of the differences of how many of us reveal God to the world and how it ought to be done.

When we think of the word magnify, our minds tend toward the use of a microscope. In using, we place a tiny specimen underneath the eye of the microscope to bring it to the point of human comprehension. It is so small originally that the human mind cannot conceive of its attributes. For many of us (especially unknowingly - though not an excuse) this is how we portray God to the world. Our lives are tuned a microscopes because our view of and love for God is so small. So when the world looks through us (our lives) they see a small God not worthy of glory and praise. No wonder the world thinks followers of Christ are stupid and merely filling an emotional void. But there is another way in which we can magnify. The telescope accomplishes this purpose. When we aim a telescope at an unfathomably sized object in space, the object seen through the scope is seen in a comprehensible way. We are able to view gigantic planets and stars bigger than anyone could imagine and further away than technology can take us. This is how the Christian's life ought to be. Our lives should be as telescopes to the beauty and power of the God of the Bible whom no human mind can completely grasp. That is why we are to be telescopes - so that the lost world can see the God who created all things and is sustaining all things by His ultimate strength. When we act as though there is no hope the world sees God as small but when we live hoping in the wondrous promises of the Faithful Lord in all circumstances we reveal how truly amazing and worthy of all honor and praise God truly is. So I ask you: Is your life a microscope or a telescope revealing God to a lost world?