ADMIT YOUR NEED for more exposure to truth.
I learned about cameras in the third grade. I built a crude camera by putting a pinhole in a small cardboard box and capturing an inverted picture on photographic film. Even in those early days, I remember being intrigued by the concept of light and exposure. In John chapter 9, the former blind man was first exposed to the light in Jesus—and then exposed to the darkness of spiritual pride in the religious leaders of his day.
Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and went and found him. He asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man said, “Point him out to me, sir, so that I can believe in him” (John 9:35-36, msg). The new visionary looked for something beyond blind faith. He asked for more insight, more evidence, more revelation, more truth.
When I walked away from God as a young man, my life became empty and dark. I wanted to believe in God again, but no longer felt it was logical or feasible. Finally, I asked God for a specific sign of His reality, and at that very point Jesus began to reintroduce Himself to me.
I have a friend, Stephen, who has an effective ministry in Christian apologetics. Stephen was a staunch agnostic until he took up a friend on her challenge to spend a year researching reasons for faith or lack of faith. As time went on, Stephen discovered many reasons to believe—in nature, in scripture, and all around him. He’d just needed to stop and look. He’d needed someone to point out a few of those reasons to him.
Jesus said, “You’re looking right at him. Don’t you recognize my voice?” (John 9:37, msg). This man was blind when Jesus sent him off to the pool where he received glorious eyesight. He had heard Jesus’ voice but, up until that point, he hadn’t actually seen Him. In fact, he’d been trying to believe in a person he had never seen. When Jesus pointed to Himself, the man became an eye-witness to eternal aliveness in a human body. (9:38)
This is a beautiful picture of what some people call “progressive revelation.” If we acknowledge our blindness and crave better insight, God will give us more revelation. On the other hand, if we pretend to have 20/20 eyesight already, what sight we have will progressively fail. “Those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind” (John 9:39b, msg).
Life Question: In what area would you say, “I am partially blind…but I’d like to see more”?