This week I was pleasantly surprised to discover that an opinion I had formed about a person was short sighted. Over the years I had seen this man in the same context and he seemed to me to be egotistical and arrogant. In a recent discussion I had with a grieving widow, this man's name came up and she described this man as being compassionate, patient and caring for her sick husband. First I was surprised by the context, that the man even knew the husband and then it gave me pause and a reason to stop and take a second look.

In my Women's Bible study we have been exploring the book of Isaiah, one of the prophets of the Old Testament. My past familiarity with this prophet was that the book was doom and gloom. God seemed judgmental and unforgiving. However, in studying it and reading it with others, I am seeing the Word with a different lens. I am looking at God in a different context and I have found that, while He judges, He is also compassionate, long-suffering and caring.

It made me wonder how much am I viewing God with a limited lens? How many others see God only through a very limited lens too? Could my view be based on a childhood experience? Or could it be based on association with someone who claimed to be a God follower but who was not very nice? Either way, sometimes we have decided that He is egotistical and arrogant and not worth a second glance.

Perhaps it is time that we took a second look...

This week and during the Christmas season, why not take a second look at God, viewing Him through the lens of Jesus? Read (or reread) the Christmas story. (Found in the beginning of the New Testament- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Read books from C.S Lewis, Mere Christianity or The Abolition of Man or try Lou Strobel's, The Case for Christ. Check out one of Madeleine L'Engle's religious non-fiction, Bright Evening Star or The Rock that is Higher. (If your local library doesn't carry any of these books, see if a local church library does.)

In addition to taking a second look at God, is there someone in your life you need to see through a different lens? You may have come to some conclusion based on your own perception. Do you have mutual friends who can help you round out your picture? Maybe you need to take a second look.

C.S. Lewis says in the The Four Loves: “In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets..."