Becoming Brighter in Your Eyes

There are two kinds of blindness in the Bible -

The first is a physical blindness – those who are truly unable to navigate life on their own.  They were counted among the poor, the helpless, and the prisoners.  The second kind of blindness is a spiritual blindness.  It has to do with a refusal to accept reality – to look squarely at the evidence and convince yourself of something totally different.  A blind mind, for Isaiah and other writers of the Bible, is far worse than a blind eye.

Unfortunately, often the former is asked to aid the latter.

“If one blind person guides another, both will fall into a ditch.” – Jesus, (Matt 15:14)

In Isaiah 42, Yahweh God is describing his amazing work in creating a nation of priests – the Israelites – to do the work of proclaiming to the world the greatest secret of all, that God is near.  He rescues Israel from bondage and clues them in on who he is, asking them to be his royal envoy and messenger.  But they aren’t listening. They are blind and deaf to their message, to their purpose.

Their role as priest to the nations never  happens, and eventually, God has to scrap the project and try again.  It grows out of the intentionally blind trying to lead the unintentionally blind – like a seeing person closing his eyes while guiding a blind person across a busy street.

But imagine if the roles were suddenly reversed – if those born blind now could see; would they help those who were struck with blindness?  Would the formerly-blind choose to close their eyes, favoring the darkness over the amazing new world of light and color?

Sometimes it is easy to take sight for granted; and it is the same with spiritual insight.  For today – recover the amazement of your first days of sight – looking in wonder at the world around you – point out to others where you see God at work.  Make it known – be the messenger God was hoping for in the Israelites.

When you show others the light, it becomes brighter in your own eyes too.

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