Open my eyes, Lord.

If you are reading this, it's obvious you can see.  Having known some that are blind gives me greater appreciation for the ability to use my eyesight.  When a person can see well, he sometimes takes things for granted. For example, the person who cannot see anything, cannot determine the difference between night and day.  He cannot drive an automobile.  He cannot watch television. 

One of the things that impresses me about those who cannot see, is the ability they have to increase the use of their other senses.  They usually have a very keen sense of smell, to the point of identifying when a friend is present, simply by the cologne they wear. They also depend a lot of their ability to hear, and often hear things the average person dismisses.

In John 9, there is a story about a man who had been blind since birth.  In the events of this story Jesus makes the claim, "I am the light of the world."  Jesus spit on the ground and made a paste of the mud and smeared it on the man's eyes. The blind man was told to go and wash off the paste in the Pool of Siloam.  He followed the Lord's instruction and the Bible says he went home seeing. 

The previously blind man's friends and neighbors saw him and began questioning him as to how all this happened.  They knew him as a blind man and now he could see, so probably like us, they wanted to know how that came about. 

His explanation was simple, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”  A miracle of the Lord had occurred and this man had been the recipient of a great blessing.

In contrast to the blessing of this story, Jesus mentioned spiritual blindness in Matthew 13 when he described his hearers as those who had "closed their eyes" when they were really capable of seeing and realizing spiritual truth. 

We can close our eyes and know the frustration that a blind person faces.  We might even go further by keeping our eyes closed, thereby understanding more about blindness, as we try to maneuver from room to room in our houses. 

It isn't quite as easy, but perhaps an exercise in determining our spiritual blindness would be good for us.  Are their spiritual realities to which we have closed our eyes?  Jesus lets us know it's possible.

One example that comes to mind is in the area of prayer.  If we are taught from the Scripture to be people of prayer and we neglect praying as we should, have we not closed our eyes to spiritual reality? 

You make the personal examination yourself and learn of those areas in your life which may need some changes.  Then pray with me the prayer I am going to pray myself.  "Open my eyes, Lord. I want to see Jesus.  Amen."

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