SIGHT!

The other day my brother told me he had started wearing eyeglasses for the affliction of aging eyes, presbyopia. That word literally combines the Greek words for “old man” and “sight.” Isn’t it amazing how some people age so quickly?

Did I have any trouble focusing on things? he asked me. “Who, me? Of course, not,” I asserted, brimming with youthful exuberance and adolescent confidence.

He looked at me skeptically. “Here,” he said, handing me his pair of old man’s spectacles. “Try these,” he advised.

I did. To shorten a sorrowful saga and to spare the reader an account of the agonies that followed, allow me to jump to the conclusion of that infelicitous incident: I am getting old!!! The cruel caprices of the clock of life have caught up with me. In other words, I have finally qualified to become a presbyteros, an elder! To borrow the utterance of another whose windows to the soul were opened, “I was blind, but now I see.” That guy at least knew he was blind. I didn’t.

Blindness. An allegory for our depravity. Drenched in sin. Every part of us, including our eyes. And sin does a number on us, blinding us to our own faults, foibles, failures, augmenting our inability to perceive.

My iniquities
have overtaken me,
so that
I am not able to see ….
Psalm 40:12

Only God can lift the veil. Only His Spirit can enlighten us. Only His Word can dispel the darkness. And it is only in the radiance and effulgence of His glorious truth that our hearts are illumined.

In Your light
we see light.
Psalm 36:9

For those who have seen the light, Jesus pronounces a special blessing:

But blessed are your eyes,
because they see ….
Matthew 13:16

The first operation of opening the ophthalmic apparatus is, of course, the placing of one’s trust in Jesus Christ as one’s Savior, believing in His accomplished work on the cross for our salvation. And yet, though we who have placed our trust in Christ now have our eyes opened, the deleterious effects of sin continue to skew our sight. Not until the age to come, when our unwarped bodies are unwrapped will our perception be perfect.

For now we see
in a mirror dimly,
but then face to face;
now I know in part,
but then I will know fully ….
1 Corinthians 13:12

And then, when we are freed forever from the presence of sin, when our hearts are as pure as they were intended to be by their Maker, then we shall see indeed!

Blessed are
the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.
Matthew 5:8

Until that time, the important sense is really not our sight, but God’s. The imperative for us is to live our lives in a manner pleasing to His sight, accomplishing what is good in the eyes of the Lord.

Let the words of my mouth
and the meditation
of my heart
Be acceptable
in Your sight,
O LORD,
my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14

May His grace and strength be with us all, enabling us to do exactly that.

Now the God of peace …
equip you in every good thing
to do His will,
working in us
that which is pleasing
in His sight,
through Jesus Christ,
to whom be the glory
forever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 13:20–21

Oh … and get your eyes checked, will you?