Today we join Jesus near the temple as He is drawn with compassion to a man who was blind from birth.  "As Jesus passed by, He saw him..." No one escapes the watchful eye and concerned heart of our Lord.  These two words should put our weary and burdened mind to rest and make our heart leap within our chest, "He saw."  Beloved believer, He sees us.  He knows our situation and our circumstances, and He knows why we are where we are.  Our Lord knows exactly where to find us; and He comes for us even when we aren't looking for Him, or can not see Him like the blind man.  Such is the sad condition of the world we live in.  Many are spiritually blind, and do not even know how close the Lord is or of His great ability and willingness to heal them. 

The Lord was stirred with compassion, but His disciples were moved to question:  "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  They believed, as many did, that sin was the cause of the sickness; surely this pitiful man was experiencing the punishment of either his or his parents' sin.  How quickly we are to judge the afflictions of others as punishment for some wickedness or evil in their lives; and consider their lack of healing as a lack of faith.  Jesus declared this man to be a vessel of His mercy.  "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him."  The man who had caught the special attention of the Lord, and the criticism of the people, was a chosen vessel for the glory of God to be revealed.  He had been selected from birth for such a time as this that the power and goodness of God might be made manifest in his healing.  Jesus took the opportunity to show Himself as the one sent from God, to do the work of God.  "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day...As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

Jesus went on to heal the man; in doing so He not only cured the man, but also revealed the purpose for his condition.  Jesus was sent into the world to be the light of the world and to give it spiritual sight.  Jesus is the true light who reveals deep and hidden things (Jeremiah 33:3).  Let us praise our Father in heaven for those seasons of affliction in our own lives where He has revealed Himself more dearly to us.  When we are in the midst of tribulation it is often difficult to see clearly the purpose for it at the time, but we can look back on our trials with 20/20 vision and see the hand of God with greater understanding. May this story stir our hearts to fervent prayer on behalf of those in our path who are enduring their own difficult diagnosis, impossible illness, or time of trial and testing.  May we not pass them by, but press in in prayer that they may see Jesus in the midst of them and feel His tender and compassionate touch.  May they gain greater understanding of His purpose for the season they are walking through as He sheds His light on their situation. "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do 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 Corinthians 4:17-18).
 

Jesus saw the condition of the blind man just as He sees the condition of the world.  The world is a spiritually dark place without the light of Christ. We all are born into this world "spiritually" blind, and Jesus wants to heal us through a spiritual "re-birth." "For you were once in darkness, but  now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the LORD.  And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.  For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret" (Ephesians 5:8-12).

 

The time we have been given, as we await the return of our Lord, is meant to be spent on promoting His light, not on arguing with the darkness.  We must use extreme caution in this present world that we do not get tied up in lengthy conversations and/or arguments with those who are "spiritually" blind.  Our words and actions are to illuminate the dark spaces, but we are not to dwell there.  The Scriptures tell us that it is "shameful to even speak of those things."  We are not to entertain the talk, let alone enter the world of those who live in the darkness. We have been given "spiritual" eyes through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, Who guides us into all understanding through the Word of God, so that through the character and conduct of our lives we bring God's light into the world and help those in the dark find their way to Christ!

 

 

 

Our walk and our talk should reflect the Light we have been given.  Our very presence in the world, if we are true followers of Jesus Christ walking in His light and living out His will, will expose the darkness and sin in others.  As believers, we are to speak of "spiritual" things, and allow the testimony of our lives to provide the necessary contrasting light to draw others into the light of Christ. God did not dictate His love for us, but rather demonstrated it with every word He spoke and every deed He did; in doing so, He brought glory to the Father and proved that He was indeed the Son of God.  As children of the light we are called to live by His example with the time we have been given. It is time we wake up from our slumber and work while it is still day..."night is coming" (John 9:4b).   This afternoon, let us take stock of those activities in our lives which we have been "entertaining" that have kept us living too close to the darkness.  Today would be a good day to do a "spiritual" and "physical" house cleaning.  Some things don't need to be prayed over, they simply need to be thrown out (and that may mean saying goodbye to "unholy" alliances and relationships). "But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness" (1 Timothy 6:11). 

Pray now and ask God to shed His light into the dark areas of our life that are weakening our testimony and witness in the world, and ask Him for the strength and courage to cut out the cancer that is robbing us of spiritual power in the Church.  The prayer life of the church has been stifled because far too many believers have fallen into the same pit of darkness they have been trying to fight; and tragically many have found themselves trapped in  sinful lifestyles and behaviors they once detested and are now too powerless to get out of.  We must pray unceasingly for the Church.  May God awaken His Bride to her "spiritual" unfaithfulness, and open the eyes of His children to recognize the deceptive lies of the enemy which have infiltrated and captivated the hearts and minds of so many believers.  Let us pray for a holy stirring within the hearts of every believer to respond to the Light and return to their First Love with passionate zeal and repentant hearts, so our lampstand will not be removed (Revelation 2:4-5);  that we may become empty vessels ready to "be filled with the Spirit," bearing fruit and "making melody in our hearts" to the glory and praise of God.