14 August | Youth
«Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.» Colossians 3:2
Tralhoto is a fish with scales very agile that lives in the Amazon rivers. It can reach thirty centimeters in length and weigh around four hundred grams. Its scientific name is Anableps, but it is popularly known as the four-eyed fish. This is because their eyes are divided into two parts: half is in the water watching other fish and the other half is outside noticing the movement of birds.
Just like this freshwater fish, Christians must also have a double vision. While “running” after the things of this world, such as study, work and leisure, your eyes need to be focused on Heaven, on eternal things. It is as if you lived, at the same time, in two worlds, “with feet on the ground and eyes on Heaven.”
The Bible is full of these “four-eyed” believers, men and women who had influence in the world precisely because they thought more about Heaven. Look, for example, at the gallery of heroes of faith in Hebrews 11. Verse 13 says: “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”
The list of these pilgrims is long: Abraham, the father of faith, aspired to “the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (v. 10). Moses, the great liberator of Israel, “looked to the reward” (v. 26). Daniel, the man who received extraordinary revelations, awaited “at the end of the days” the promised inheritance (Dan 12:13). Paul, the great apostle among the Gentiles, used to “not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor 4:18).
And you? Where have you set your eyes? Ellen White wrote: “If we would permit our minds to dwell more upon Christ and the heavenly world, we should find a powerful stimulus and support in fighting the battles of the Lord. Pride and love of the world will lose their power as we contemplate the glories of that better land so soon to be our home” (Messages to Young People, p. 113). Always look to the sky!