C2J Weekly: "Using Sight, Part 1"

This is the ninth of a twelve-part series titled, "His Eyes." In this series, we have been contemplating how our eyes seem to respond to the light so that we may be able to get a better idea of how they should work. It is my hope that with His eyes, we will be able to see the path on which we run, thereby learning how to effectively run this race.

I would like to start off by first apologizing to any of you regular readers for my absence; in recent times it's been difficult for me to write because when trying to see things through His eyes is occasionally painful. For all the beauty He has provided us with, mankind has traded it for degrading passions and inferior substitutes. In times like this, to use sight seems painful. Yet God is good and helps us whenever we cannot carry on. By His grace, our moments of doubt and uncertainty can be overthrown if we simply call upon him. In Mark 9, a father comes to Jesus asking him to heal his son. The father phrases his request for help in a way riddled with doubt, "If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us!" Jesus brings this unbelief to attention and then the father cries out, "I do believe; help my unbelief."

Jesus would not let him question God's power, not simply because God should be revered, but also because a life of doubting the certainty of His power and goodness would blind the boy's father from the majesty and wonder God had placed around him. Jesus loved him too much to only heal them by casting out the demon, so He first dealt with the wound that was so deep that the boy's father didn't ask to be helped there initially. Jesus used His sight to target the more critical wound that was unseen before treating the apparent. In this act of compassion, our Lord saw the greater need and moved in a personal way to mend the man's wounds, bind up the brokenness, and restore life to the whole family.

When you can see the height, the breath, the width, and the depth of His love, it will compel you to use that same sight to reach out to the broken like He did. Love inspires people to act in accordance with it, to provide for the widows, to tend to the orphans, and to minister to the hurting. There is no greater love than the love that originates in God and it is that same love that empowers one to simultaneously see all the brokenness and all the beauty that awaits. To be captivated by His beauty, immersed in His presence and overcome with His majesty because love graced you with His eyes is the most intoxicating and pleasurable experience possible. When all the pleasures of this world are compared to what the believers feel by using sight, those earthly pleasures grow strangely dim, as they are revealed to be poor replacements, incompetent alternatives for the majesty and love found in Christ Jesus.
So as a believer, remember that our Lord not only heals the places we see are in pain, but also mends those portions of us that we cannot fathom are hurting. Since He heals, don't use the blind eyes of your past, but take for yourselves the eyes He gave you, fashioned with His scarred hands and purchased for you through His blood. It is my exhortation to you, that you might not simply see the King, but you will open your eyes, use them to gaze upon His majesty and be captivated by His love so that you will be inspired to move.
Thought: if love reigns in you, it will reach out like sugar in liquid, giving its sweet taste to every part of the drink.