Walking With John预览

  

Opening Blind Eyes 

By: Rae-Ellen Sanders 

In John 9, we read about the blind man whom Jesus healed by making a concoction of mud and saliva and placing it on his eyes. Jesus then instructed him to wash. The man’s obedience resulted in his sight (John 9:7). This miracle is still being performed today in the lives of every believer. 

Before we were saved by God’s grace, we all had blind eyes. When we were lost to sin, or rather living in our former life, we could not fathom God’s great love for us or understand His words to us in Scripture. A spiritual phenomenon had to happen: we first had to surrender to the need for a Savior, seek forgiveness of sins, and ask to be made clean. It is at conversion that we encounter the living Christ, inviting Him into our lives and receiving His Spirit. This Holy Spirit, the third member of the triune God, is sent to live inside us and seals us as being born again into God’s family. 

Before this transformation, we aren’t able to comprehend the mysteries of God. It is the same Jesus from John 9 who opens up our blind eyes to see Him and to see what He is doing. God’s Word says when we seek Him, we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13). As we actively grow as Christ-followers and feed on Scripture, our eyes are opened to perceive the deep things of God (1 Peter 2:2). We must exercise our spiritual sight by walking in faith, studying the Bible, attending corporate worship services, and committing to a body of believers. These disciplines develop in us the ability to see God at work, to recognize His voice, and ultimately mature in our Christian walk. 

Let’s look at Acts 9 to learn about the life-changing conversion of the Apostle Paul, a committed persecutor of the first Christians. He was on a journey to Damascus to threaten, kill, and imprison followers of the Way. (Acts 9:1-9, 17-18 AMP). 

Jesus has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light, and wants to give us eyes to see Him! Like Paul, listen to His voice and be transformed. 

Questions to Ponder 

-What consumes your daily vision? What we look at and spend our time on becomes our reality. The enemy wants us to be distracted by the things of this world. Take a minute to do an inventory. If you are convicted about not putting God first, commit to daily Bible reading, prayer, and meditation, singing hymns and praise songs, and choosing Christian reading material for yourself and your children. 

-We can ask the Lord to heal our near-sightedness. If you know the Lord as your Savior but want to have the scales fall from your eyes, draw near to God, and He will draw near to you (James 4:8). 

“Oh, without prayer what are the church’s agencies, but the stretching out of a dead man’s arm, or the lifting up of the lid of a blind man’s eye? Only when the Holy Spirit comes is there any life and force and power.” ~ Charles Spurgeon