Reading for today: 2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36:1-21, Jeremiah 52
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.
We sang these famous words yesterday during worship and they never cease to move me. I found myself thinking about John Newton who first penned those words as he reflected back on his life as a slave ship captain. I found myself thinking about my own spiritual blindness as a young man before meeting Christ at college. And then I read today’s passage about the fall of the Kingdom of Judah and the end of the reign of Zedekiah and once again, the words ran through my brain. What is it that keeps us from seeing God? What is it that keeps us from seeing the world as God sees it? Seeing other human beings as God sees them? Why are we so blind?
The answer, of course, is sin. Sin is a condition we are born into. A power we are born enslaved to. It’s not something we can escape on our own and it keeps us from seeing and trusting God. I don’t know about you but when I read the stories from the Kings and Chronicles, I find myself wondering why these kings struggled so much to follow God. Why did they not place their trust in Him? Did they not know their history? Could they not see that when kings were faithful, God brought blessing and when kings were unfaithful, God brought the curse? Why were they so blind? The Scriptures make much of Zedekiah’s blindness. Jeremiah mentions it twice. The historians of Israel mention it as well. Perhaps it’s a painful reminder of how broken Zedekiah had become or perhaps it signals something deeper. A spiritual blindness that afflicted Zedekiah for years before God’s judgment fell.
As I said above, I remember my own spiritual blindness. I was raised in the church. My parents were faithful to take me to worship every Sunday. I sang in the choir. I was a leader at youth group. By all accounts, I was incredibly engaged. However, my heart was hard. I was blinded by my own desires. My own fears. My own doubts. I could not see God. I could not hear God. I did not want to follow God. This was all exposed my freshman year of college. Once outside of the protective rhythms and boundaries my parents set, I floundered. I was lost. I wandered aimlessly. I drank heavily. I skipped class. Most of all, I avoided God. When confronted, I blamed others. I blamed my professors. I blamed my friends. I was so blind I could not see the wretch I’d become.
That’s when I met Jesus. He confronted me on a sidewalk right outside the UMC up on the campus of the University of Colorado. He opened my eyes and it was like I was seeing the world for the very first time. The light was blinding. The exposure painful. All my sins were laid bare before Him. There was no escape. I was overwhelmed by sorrow. Overwhelmed by grief. Overwhelmed by the depth of my sin. The road back to spiritual health was not easy. It was one tentative step after another. It required facing the consequences of my actions. The brokenness of my relationships. The anxiety of my failures. But Jesus was faithful. He was the light for my feet. The lamp for my path. Because my eyes had been opened, I could actually see the way He laid out for me.
I have no idea where you find yourself this morning. I have no idea if you are blind or if you can see. Perhaps you are like Zedekiah or like I was prior to receiving Christ. Groping in the dark. Stumbling around in the shadows. Blinded by your desires. Fears. Doubts. Failures. I am praying for you to have your eyes opened by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you see dimly or through a glass darkly. Your vision is blurry because you have allowed something to come between you and Christ. I am praying you find clarity as you fix your eyes on Jesus. Perhaps God has opened your eyes to His majesty and glory. Rejoice! Thank the Lord for the great work He has done! Ask Him to give you the grace to see even more clearly and distinctly and to help others do the same.
Reading for tomorrow: Jeremiah 41-44