Once I Was Blind

I clearly remember getting my first eyeglasses. I was 12 years old, and I didn't realize how blurry the world had been until we were driving home from the optometrist. I looked out the window and discovered a clearly-defined world with details that I had never seen. Ever since then, my life has been greatly enhanced by this marvellous invention.

The concept of eyeglasses has been around for centuries. In the first century, Emperor Nero of Rome held an emerald to his eye to reduce the glare as he watched the gladiatorial contests — the first sunglasses. At about the same time, a scholar described using a glass globe filled with water to enlarge letters on a page. In the eleventh century, an Arab mathematician made reading globes. Later, beryl stones were used to enlarge text. Called reading stones, they were held up to the eye to magnify the text. By the thirteenth century, primitive lenses set into wooden or leather frames could be perched on one's nose. Today, thanks to the wisdom that God gave many scientists and inventers, we have access to a huge variety of tools to aid our physical vision.

In the story of Jesus healing the man born blind in John 9, eyeglasses couldn't have helped the blind man, even if they had been available — but Jesus could, and did. He put mud on the blind man's eyes, and after he had washed in the pool of Siloam, he "came back seeing!" Better yet, the last seven verses of the chapter indicate that his spiritual eyes were opened as well.

John 8:12 – Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life." (NLT)

I accepted Jesus as my Saviour when I was five. At that age, I didn't fully understand what I had done. As I grew both physically and spiritually, my spiritual eyes were opened. In the words of the old hymn The Light of the World is Jesus (audio):

Come to the light, 'tis shining for thee;
Sweetly the light has dawned upon me;
Once I was blind, but now I can see:
The Light of the world is Jesus!
       – Philip P. Bliss

Two thousand years after Jesus healed the blind man, the eyes of many people are still spiritually blind — they refuse to recognize the lordship of Jesus Christ and accept Him as their Saviour. When the apostle Paul was blinded by a light from heaven on the road to Damascus, the Lord Jesus told him, "I am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God." (Acts 26:17b-18a NLT)

Once our eyes are spiritually open, we, like Paul, have a commission to tell the world about our wonderful Saviour. "Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations. … Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you." (Matthew 28:19a,20a NLT)

Prayer: Father, thank You for the gift of Your Son, the light of the world. Help us to share that light with others so that they, too, may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Amen.