In John Chapter 9, we find the story of Jesus healing a man who was born blind.
After his healing, the man who was healed from his blindness is being questioned...and here he is responding to the Pharisees (or rather the "Pharican'tsees"), who were asking questions about who healed him and how he did it. They were angry haters, who because of what they "thought" they knew, were putting this man in an uncomfortable spot. They wanted him to give them the response that they want to hear... and he knows it. The man answers them...in a nutshell, he tells them that this man (this man that these "Religious People" do not know at all) is of God! (John 9:33)
After this interrogation and bold response, in which this blind man already seems to have formed a belief about the One who healed him, Jesus approaches him and confirms his belief. He asks the formerly blind, now seeing fellow, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" (John 9:35) "You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you" (verse 37)...and the young man's reaction?
He said, "Prove it to me with your excellent knowledge of theology. Show me more signs and wonders, because just receiving my sight isn't enough. Let me go to your church and make sure nothing seems weird. And then after several years of thinking and googling, I will believe you!"
No...he didn't react that way. But how often WE react that way! Wanting more and more proof before accepting God's teachings, before accepting God Himself. Needing to be taught the same things over and over before we truly, wholeheartedly believe!
What this now seeing man actually said, in John 9:37, literally brought me to tears. "...he said, 'Lord I believe'. And he worshiped Him."
Look at the punctuation in that beautiful verse! "Lord I believe." Lord-I-believe-period.
He simply believed.
And he worshiped Him.
I cried when I read this because of what Jesus had done for this man, and I'm still crying because of how convicted I'm feeling. What's wrong with me? I was absolutely, totally blind. Blind from birth! And in an instant, Jesus stepped into my heart and radically transformed it. Radically transformed my life. My eternity! And yet, I sometimes go through days, weeks and months of my life when I seem to have forgotten I was ever blind. I go through days, weeks and months when I take the free, saving grace of Jesus for granted, whether or not I realize it.
In John 9:39 Jesus said "For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind."
Ugh. I am sometimes more like one of those people who thinks they're seeing, and in doing so become blind. Not that I've been living like a "Pharican'tsee", but where is my belief? Where is my "Lord, I believe. - Period." response, and the falling-on-my-seeing-face-to-worship-Him reaction?
I expect to have this kind of reaction when remembering my salvation - but I should also have it every time I see the Lord move. Every time I see how generous He has been in providing for me. Every time I hear his voice, or read his Word. I shouldn't NEED to bury myself in footnotes and research. My belief should come from my encounters with the Living God, it won't come from reciting what "Religious People" have taught me to say. Yes, I want to understand Him correctly. But more than that - I want to and need to just believe His teachings, and worship Him. Period.
I know this is nothing new. We've been singing the song "Amazing Grace" forever. But I want to remember that first "Amazing Grace" moment every day. I never want to forget my blindness, because that means I forget the grace of God who gives me sight. I want to be able to feel that same "Amazing Grace" moment with everything I learn AFTER my salvation, too.
Lord, thank you for taking lessons I've learned 1,000 times, and speaking from them to my heart 2,000 times. I'm "seeing" with new eyes every day that your Word is alive. And because of it, I see you. And I believe.
After his healing, the man who was healed from his blindness is being questioned...and here he is responding to the Pharisees (or rather the "Pharican'tsees"), who were asking questions about who healed him and how he did it. They were angry haters, who because of what they "thought" they knew, were putting this man in an uncomfortable spot. They wanted him to give them the response that they want to hear... and he knows it. The man answers them...in a nutshell, he tells them that this man (this man that these "Religious People" do not know at all) is of God! (John 9:33)
After this interrogation and bold response, in which this blind man already seems to have formed a belief about the One who healed him, Jesus approaches him and confirms his belief. He asks the formerly blind, now seeing fellow, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" (John 9:35) "You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you" (verse 37)...and the young man's reaction?
He said, "Prove it to me with your excellent knowledge of theology. Show me more signs and wonders, because just receiving my sight isn't enough. Let me go to your church and make sure nothing seems weird. And then after several years of thinking and googling, I will believe you!"
No...he didn't react that way. But how often WE react that way! Wanting more and more proof before accepting God's teachings, before accepting God Himself. Needing to be taught the same things over and over before we truly, wholeheartedly believe!
What this now seeing man actually said, in John 9:37, literally brought me to tears. "...he said, 'Lord I believe'. And he worshiped Him."
Look at the punctuation in that beautiful verse! "Lord I believe." Lord-I-believe-period.
He simply believed.
And he worshiped Him.
I cried when I read this because of what Jesus had done for this man, and I'm still crying because of how convicted I'm feeling. What's wrong with me? I was absolutely, totally blind. Blind from birth! And in an instant, Jesus stepped into my heart and radically transformed it. Radically transformed my life. My eternity! And yet, I sometimes go through days, weeks and months of my life when I seem to have forgotten I was ever blind. I go through days, weeks and months when I take the free, saving grace of Jesus for granted, whether or not I realize it.
In John 9:39 Jesus said "For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind."
Ugh. I am sometimes more like one of those people who thinks they're seeing, and in doing so become blind. Not that I've been living like a "Pharican'tsee", but where is my belief? Where is my "Lord, I believe. - Period." response, and the falling-on-my-seeing-face-to-worship-Him reaction?
I expect to have this kind of reaction when remembering my salvation - but I should also have it every time I see the Lord move. Every time I see how generous He has been in providing for me. Every time I hear his voice, or read his Word. I shouldn't NEED to bury myself in footnotes and research. My belief should come from my encounters with the Living God, it won't come from reciting what "Religious People" have taught me to say. Yes, I want to understand Him correctly. But more than that - I want to and need to just believe His teachings, and worship Him. Period.
I know this is nothing new. We've been singing the song "Amazing Grace" forever. But I want to remember that first "Amazing Grace" moment every day. I never want to forget my blindness, because that means I forget the grace of God who gives me sight. I want to be able to feel that same "Amazing Grace" moment with everything I learn AFTER my salvation, too.
Lord, thank you for taking lessons I've learned 1,000 times, and speaking from them to my heart 2,000 times. I'm "seeing" with new eyes every day that your Word is alive. And because of it, I see you. And I believe.
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