The Fresh Eye
To live a life of compassion, we must cultivate a freshness of sight and seek to see the needs of others with a newly-awakened interest.
John Henry Jowett emphasizes the importance of maintaining a fresh perspective in showing compassion, drawing from Lamentations 3:22-33. He highlights how God's compassions are new every morning because He never grows accustomed to our needs, always seeing them with fresh eyes. Jowett urges the congregation to seek discerning eyes from the Lord to prevent becoming desensitized to the needs around them, ensuring that their sympathies never fail and their compassion remains strong.
Text
"_His compassions fail not: they are new every morning._"
--LAMENTATIONS iii. 22-33.
We have not to live on yesterday's manna; we can gather it fresh to-day.
Compassion becomes stale when it becomes thoughtless. It is new thought
that keeps our pity strong. If our perception of need can remain vivid, as
vivid as though we had never seen it before, our sympathies will never
fail. The fresh eye insures the sensitive heart. And our God's compassions
are so new because He never becomes accustomed to our need. He always sees
it with an eye that is never dulled by the commonplace; He never becomes
blind with much seeing! We can look at a thing so often that we cease to
see it. God always sees a thing as though He were seeing it for the first
time. "Thou, God, seest me," and "His compassions fail not."
And if my compassions are to be like a river that never knows drought, I
must cultivate a freshness of sight. The horrible can lose its horrors.
The daily tragedy can become the daily commonplace. My neighbour's needs
can become as familiar as my furniture, and I may never see either the one
or the other. And therefore must I ask the Lord for the daily gift of
discerning eyes. "Lord, that I may receive my sight." And with an always
newly-awakened interest may I reveal "the compassions of the Lord!"
Sermon Outline
- The Fresh Eye
- The Importance of Fresh Perception
- The Character of God's Compassions
- God's Unaccustomed View of Need
- The Consequence of a Dull Heart
Key Quotes
“''His compassions fail not: they are new every morning.''” — John Henry Jowett
“The fresh eye insures the sensitive heart.” — John Henry Jowett
“God always sees a thing as though He were seeing it for the first time.” — John Henry Jowett
Application Points
- We must ask the Lord for the daily gift of discerning eyes to cultivate a freshness of sight.
- A sensitive heart is the result of a fresh eye, and it is essential for living a life of compassion.
- God's unaccustomed view of our need is a reminder that He is always present and always sees us with a fresh and sensitive heart.