New Vision

Luke 11:34-35 – Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. (NIV)

This past year, I went to have an eye examination. It was four years earlier that I had been told I had the beginning of cataracts on both eyes, one more advanced than the other. Since the last exam I had noted a real difference in my sight, as my vision grew dimmer.

The examination proved that I had double vision in one eye and not much better in the other. There was no more changing the prescription — it would not help. It was time to see a specialist for the replacement of the natural lenses with artificial lenses.

The surgery was set up for one eye to be done at a time. This, I would suppose, was to leave some vision in case the operation was not a success. In my case, there were no problems. All went well. I had new vision.

Today's scripture is in truth a real insight to behold. The eye is the lamp of our body. When our eyes are good, we have the opportunity to see the full light that God has given to us, a life filled with His presence, given by His grace, that we might see and seek His pleasure. When sin enters our lives, and the light grows dim, thanks be to God that He has sent His Son into the world that we might see through the darkness of our sinful lives into a new life with Him. This spiritual experience is so similar to the removal of cataracts, which impair our vision, and the replacement with clear lenses — we see the light that is within God that was previously obscured by the darkness that is within us.

Prayer: With thanks to You, O God, we come into Your light, that we may see our lives as sinful, and, through Your Son Jesus Christ, we can receive new light, new life, and a new beginning in You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.