The book of Acts is a book of conversions. It is the historical record of the apostles fulfilling the Great Commission of Christ, “go into all the world and preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15). They did so in Jerusalem, Samaria, Caesarea, and in the uttermost parts of the world. They did so with great success.

“Perspective” was originally the science of optics. It is now used in conversation to describe a mental view or disposition; it’s how one views life. For this little piece, perspective is your viewpoint about life.

How we view life is vital to our happiness as well as to our eternal destiny. May I offer a few suggestions about a good perspective?

I had a car accident. It was minor, but it was my fault. It wrecked my whole week. It was all I could think about. Until my daughter had to get three stitches in her upper lip after a close encounter with a see-saw. She became my world at that moment. Until the next morning when we got the call about Teena Harris. Her father, Glenn, had just finished teaching a class on the Miracles of Jesus. “We could use one right now,” he said in the somber, subdued waiting room.

Believe it or not, I was young once. I remember some things about being young that were not easy; in fact, downright perplexing. I remember when I reached puberty. I didn’t understand what was happening to me. I didn’t understand all these new feelings I was having. New things popped into my mind without permission, stuff that had never been there before. I began to notice things I had never even thought of before. It was a difficult time for me. I think it must be so for most all youngsters–if they’d just admit it.

I love maps. I can spend hours looking at maps, familiarizing myself with certain locations, where various places are in relation to others, distances between different locales, figuring the best routes to particular destinations, etc. I wonder sometimes why I never seriously considered becoming a cartographer.

It’s interesting to me how an illustration can sometimes become so powerful that it supplants the thing it is illustrating. For instance, the illustration for salvation is many times cited by the use of a man’s five fingers. Hear, believe, repent, confess, be baptized, we are wont to affirm, is God’s plan for salvation. And it is. But that’s not some sort of creed. It’s an illustration–a representative of what happens when an honest person–a sinner–seeking salvation from his sins, reads the Bible and sees what God affirms as the necessary steps to salvation.