The Magnifying Glass

Read Psalm 34:1-8

“Magify, oh, magify . . . ,” sang Jack’s little sister, Kristi, as they walked up to their grandma’s house.

“Hi, Grandma,” said Jack as they went into the house. “What are you doing? Reading the paper?” Grandma nodded.

“What’s that?” asked Kristi, pointing to Grandma’s hand.

Jack knew what it was. “It’s a magnifying glass,” he said.

“That’s right,” said Grandma. “This makes the letters look bigger so I can see them better. Here . . .” Grandma motioned for them to come close. “Try it out.”

“You know what, Grandma?” asked Kristi. “Last Sunday a lady sang a song about a magifying glass.”

Jack laughed. “The word is magnify, not magify,” he informed his sister. “And it wasn’t about a magnifying glass. She sang, ‘Magnify the Lord.’” He paused. “But what does that mean, Grandma?” he asked. “To magnify something means to make it bigger, but we can’t make God bigger!”

Grandma smiled. “When I use this glass to read, the letters seem bigger to my eyes, but they’re not really bigger, are they?”

Jack thought about that. “But I still don’t see what it means to magnify the Lord,” he said.

“Well, I think we magnify God when we block out the things that distract us and just focus on him. Then we get to know him better and get a better understanding of how great he really is. We feel his presence close to us. Does that make sense to you?”

As Jack slowly nodded his head, Kristi called out, “Look!” She was holding the magnifying glass over a cartoon in the paper. “Look how big Bugsy’s whiskers are!”

“I think Kristi has just pointed out another way we magnify the Lord,” said Grandma. “She’s the one looking at that cartoon, but even from here we can see something of what she sees. When we magnify the Lord, we hold him up and praise him, and it helps other people start to see how great he is, too.”

How about you?

Do you spend a little time each day thinking about how great God is? If you do, you’ll soon begin to think about him more, even when you’re busy, and people around you may begin to notice him, too.

Memorize:

“O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” Psalm 34:3, KJV