Did you ever play pin the tail on the donkey? It is a children’s game that gives us an idea of how difficult it is to not have the physical sense of sight. The Bible shows us that it is sometimes even more difficult if we lose our spiritual way, if we are spiritual blind.
Jesus is in the business of opening blind eyes, both physically and spiritually. We all know how he healed the blind – remember the story of the healing of blind Bartimeus in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10? In Luke 4:18 Jesus says in his famous “mission Statement”, quoting Isaiah 62:1, that he is in his earthly mission to “preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set free the oppressed and the imprisoned.”
Sometimes we pray for Jesus to open people’s eyes so that they can see the great offer of salvation that He died on the cross so that they might be free. There are a lot of people who walk around in darkness and do not see His lights. Sometimes we pray for Jesus to help people to open their eyes and see the blessings God has for them, but they are not receiving them, because their eyes are closed – blessings right in front of them – just like a good meal but someone is too lazy to lift their fork or to smell the aroma of the feast. Paul prays in Ephesians 1 for spiritual eyes to be opened. It is a prayer we can also pray.
In his great prayer of Ephesians 1 – A wonderful prayer for us to learn from and to imitate in praying for each other, for our families and friends, for our Christian brothers and sisters, Paul prays for the eyes of the minds of the believers to be enlightened. Paul prayed for the Spirit of God to enlighten the Christians in in that they would know the hope of God's calling ; and what are the riches of His inheritance among the saints; and that they would know the exceeding greatness of His power that works in them. Those are great prayers for us today. All of us need the Holy Spirit to open our spiritual eyes that we may see.
John Calvin wrote – “It is true that our eyes are instruments of God’s power and goodness by which he makes us enjoy the light, but that is something common to all. But here St. Paul shows us that we are blind and that we understand nothing of God’s spiritual grace, unless he opens our eyes and takes away the veil that is before them, and even gives us a new sight which we do not have. For our eyes are worse than put out until he enlightens them by his Holy Spirit.”
The apostle Paul wants us to have a spirit of wisdom and revelation that we may be able see how great the things are which God has provided for us! Faith arises in us when God enlightens our minds with His Holy Spirit. We pray and we read the Word and it becomes a living instrument in our hands as God speaks to us through it!
When we have the revelation provided by the Holy Spirit … we begin to see with eyes of faith!
But what did Paul want us to see? 18 “… that you may know what is the hope of His calling,”
He wanted us to know the Hope which is ours because of God’s calling. Our hope lies in Him alone and without Christ we are without Hope!
Much of the world lives without hope. They have nothing good to anticipate. There is not expectation of change or fulfillment. But Jesus did not intend for any of us to live without hope! Hope declares that we have a future … we have a destiny!
Satan does all that he can to destroy hope! In his world he creates dreams, expectation and possibilities and then does his best to pull them out from under you! All of Satan’s expectations are like the euphoria of a hallucinogenic drug. You feel things that are not real, you see things that are not real, your senses are heightened … and then you come down to withdrawals, pain, and emptiness! The pleasures of sin are delightful for a season … but then reality sets in and the pain begins!
The hope in Christ is not like that at all! The hope that Christ provided for us comes from His calling. Jesus is the real Dream Giver! His has given you a calling … a dream! You have a specific reason for living which God has given to you and you alone! You have been chosen by Him from before time began to fulfill your destiny! No one else will ever do the same things which you do! In His calling there is fulfillment and joy!
You have been blessed with a calling, God’s dream. He has chosen you for His purposes, having predestined you before time to be adopted into God’s family, and you have been accepted by Him! When we lose hope it is because we have lost sight of this calling of God! Our dream dies! It therefore becomes necessary that we return to the Lord time and time again and ask for our eyes to be opened again! We must carry a vision in us of the calling which God has given to us! That is where hope lies!
No comments:
Post a Comment