Spiritual: Blindness

Spiritual: Blindness

Prisoner Recognizes Sin
One day, after a gospel meeting in a prison in Greece, the chief of chaplains of the prisons was discussing with the preacher the wonderful response by the prisoners of Greece to the message of the Gospel: "When you deal with a prisoner, you do not need to persuade him that he is a sinner. His imprisonment is a proof of it. But there are many out of jail who should be in, and because they are out they argue all is well with them and they need no Savior."

Eye Trouble
A friend of mine went into a drugstore the other day and pointed to some toothbrushes on a rack. "Let me have a pink one," she requested. To her surprise, the clerk took down an orange one. "No, pink," she reminded him. This time he selected a lavender one. My friend began to sense the difficulty. "No, I said pink," she repeated pleasantly; the clerk's finger hovered uncertainly over the rack and neared the desired color, "That one," she declared emphatically. "I see you're color-blind," she remarked as he wrapped her purchase. With a sheepish smile he confessed, "I always call blue 'green.' " But this same friend had a color-blind relative who doggedly insisted that certain colors were a figment of other people's imaginations because he could not distinguish them. Do not be surprised when those who do not know God cannot accept as real the spiritual truths He has revealed through His Word. The "eyes of their understanding" have never been opened. To Each His Own
Public opinion has its own valid functions, but it is inappropriate and insufficient in guiding a Christian worker. A broom, for instance, is not adapted to clean an oil painting. It has its own function, that of cleaning a floor, and it discharges this much more efficiently than if it were a paintbrush. How disastrous it would be if a body of well-meaning and earnest persons, armed with brooms, were to burst into an art gallery with a view to improving the paintings. The best intentions won't enable a rough instrument to accomplish work for which it is unfit. Similarly, public opinion, by reason of its conglomerate nature and massive force, is unfit to deal with the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. No God/No Morals
Two friends, meeting after a long time, were discussing the current breakdown in morals, especially among the younger generation. "What do you suppose really causes it?" asked one who in the past had openly declared she felt no need of God in her life. Her Christian friend hesitated, feeling it would be useless to give her own opinion as a believer since the other had so often rejected her attempts in the past to speak of religious matters. Before she could formulate a reply, however, her friend advanced her own theory. "Don't you think the breakdown in religious values has something to do with it?" "Yes, I do," agreed the other quickly. "If young people have turned their backs on religion and feel that God doesn't exist, they no longer have any absolute standards of right and wrong, no authority to turn to for direction, and the result is confusion. Everyone does that which is right in his own eyes." Surprisingly, her friend agreed with her. Even unbelievers are beginning to realize that if God doesn't exist, society has nothing on which to base its ethics.

New Birth, Not New Surroundings
The Roman philosopher, Seneca, wrote to his friend Lucullus: "My wife has a moronic child, Harpasti, who suddenly became blind. What I am about to tell you will be difficult to believe, but it is true. We cannot make her understand that she has become blind and that no change in her environment will help her. She insists that her nurse take her to a house where it is not dark. It seems to me," continued the philosopher, "that what has happened to her is happening to all of us. Not one of us realizes that he is both miserable and vengeful."

Mad Over Religion?
Two friends, one an army officer, met after an interval of ten years. They had been attached to each other and shook hands cordially. After a little chat, the civilian, looking at the other man with a curious air, said, "By the way, General, they tell me you have gone mad over religion." "Well," responded the general, "I'm not aware of being crazy; as far as I know I'm enjoying all my senses. But you know, if I am, there is one comfort; I've got Jesus Christ for my keeper and heaven for my lunatic asylum, so I think I shall not do badly after all." The world may consider the faithful, practicing Christian crazy, but what counts is that God declares him righteous over and over again. A Rewarding Life
The closer to God we are, the more peace and happiness we shall experience. A baker never expects to get a better cake than the ingredients he puts into it. Yet many people who complain that life is not as rewarding as they expected it to be, forget that in leaving out God they have left out that which alone can give life its glory, hope, love, and joy.

Ignorance on a Grand Scale
A man left $200,000 in his will for anyone who, through research, could prove before a court of justice that there is a soul and of what it consists. No one has been able to claim the legacy. Only in the Bible will you find the divine revelation concerning the soul of man.

Ask the One Who Knows
Suppose a robbery had been committed in a store in your neighborhood; you join the crowd standing outside and ask, "What happened?" Someone starts to fill you in on what's going on, though he hasn't been inside the building himself. Then the storekeeper comes out, and you ask the same question. His account differs in many details from that of the bystander. Whom would you believe? The answer is obvious. You realize that the man who stands outside a building is a very poor judge of what is taking place within. Yet, frequently the man who stands outside the circle of born-again Christians refuses to enter or even listen to what is going on inside the circle of those who are in Christ. Unfortunately, when he desires to get information on spiritual things, he doesn't go to those who have experienced the indwelling of the Spirit of God, but turns to worldly philosophers and rationalists, those outside of the circle of believers. Therefore the information he gets of what is going on inside is totally perverted. No Man Is an Island
One day a man was hiking in the mountains when he came upon the hut of a hermit who had isolated himself from other human beings. He struck up a conversation with the hermit who told the visitor that he was completely self-sufficient to meet his own needs. He said, "I cut the trees and hewed the logs for my cabin, and I put it together with wooden pegs. I grow or hunt all my own food, and I get along just fine. I don't need anybody else."
The man looked at him for a moment, then said, "Tell me, how did you cut the trees you used for your cabin?"
The hermit replied, "With my axe."
Then the visitor said, "But wasn't someone else responsible for making that axe and your other tools, and for mining the iron that was used to make them? What about your clothes, do you make all of them?"
"No," replied the hermit, "I have to make a trip outside about once a year to get new clothes."
"Then," said the man again, "what about the shells that you use in your gun when you hunt your food, and what about the gun itself? Weren't you dependent on someone else for both?"
"Well," said the hermit reluctantly, "I guess so."
"The truth is," said the visitor, "that you are not as independent of others as you like to think. Even if you could sustain yourself completely without any of the things we've mentioned, you're still forgetting one vital thing which you could never supply or maintain by yourself."
"What's that?" asked the hermit.
Looking him full in the face, the man said, "Your own life." Whereupon the hermit fell silent and had little else to say.

Only as You See Him
At the Grand Canyon, a guide took a group of tourists to the southern rim. Among the sightseers were an artist, a minister, and a cowboy. After they had beheld the spectacle for a few minutes, the guide asked the artist, "Could you paint a picture like that?" "Never!" the artist replied. "Only God could make that scene." The guide then turned to the minister. "Could you describe such grandeur in a sermon, Pastor?" The minister shook his head. "No, sir. Such majesty defies mortal description." Finally he turned to the cowboy. "And what do you think about this Grand Canyon, partner?" The cowboy answered in wonderment, "I was just thinking-what an awful place to lose a cow!" The unsaved look at Christ and see a good teacher, a moral man but not the Son of God.

Tom Lincoln's Baby Boy
My favorite caricature about Abraham Lincoln shows two tired Kentucky pioneers with their skinny dogs. They meet on a bleak February morning. One asked, "What is new out here, neighbor?" The other replied, "Nuthin at all... nuthin' at all, 'cept for a new baby boy down to Tom Lincoln's. Nuthin' ever happens out here."
In the light of history we know that God was causing great things to happen on that cold February morning-things of which the despondent pioneers were not aware.
In the dark moments of discouragement, we, too, have felt like that pioneer: "Nuthin' ever happens out here." Then we realize that God is still working out His purpose in life. The fault lies in our own lack of awareness. We may miss what God is doing all around us. Could we but develop an awareness, our lives would be filled with light and joy. God's love envelops us, but we must respond to that love if we are to experience its real meaning. The Calf Path
Edward Fudge tells this story:
One day through the primeval wood, a calf walked home as good calves should. But made a trail all bent askew, a crooked trail as all calves do.
Since then 300 years have fled, and I infer the calf is dead. But still he left behind his trail-and thereby hangs my moral tale.
The trail was taken up next day by a lone dog that passed that way. And then a wise bellwether sheep pursued the trail o'er vale and steep, and drew the flock behind him, too, as good bellwethers always do.
And from that day, o'er hill and glade, through those old woods a path was made. And many men wound in and out, and dodged and turned and bent about, and uttered words of righteous wrath because 'twas such a crooked path.
But still they followed the first migrations of that calf, who through this winding woodway stalked-because he wobbled when he walked.
This forest path became a lane, that bent and turned and turned again. This crooked lane became a road, where many a poor horse with his load toiled on beneath the burning sun, and traveled some three miles in one. And thus a century and a half they trod the footsteps of that calf.
The years passed on in swiftness fleet. The road became a village street; and this, before men were aware, a city's crowded thoroughfare. And soon the central street was this of a renowned metropolis. And men two centuries and a half trod in the footsteps of that calf.
Each day a hundred thousand rout followed this zigzag calf about, and over his crooked journey went the traffic of a continent.
A hundred thousand men were led by one calf, near three centuries dead. They followed still his crooked way, and lost 100 years a day. For thus such reverence is lent to well-established precedent.
A moral lesson this might teach were I ordained and called to preach. For men are prone to go it blind along the calf paths of the mind, and work away from sun to sun to do what other men have done.
They follow in the beaten track, and out and in, and forth and back, and still their dubious course pursue, to keep the path that others do.
They keep the path a sacred groove, along which all their lives they move. But how the wise old woods do laugh, who saw the first primeval calf.
Ah, many thing this tale might teach, but I am not ordained to preach!

Walking in Darkness
Christopher D. Green writes:
"I cannot explain why I do it, but I have always walked in the dark. When I was a kid I used to do it more as a challenge; an adventure. Now as an adult, I suppose it is more out of habit than anything else.
"If I get up in the middle of the night, I refuse to turn on the lights. Instead of simply flipping a switch and lighting my way, I wander around in the dark, relying on my sixth sense to guide me. Usually, I guess from all these years of practice, I can get to my intended destination without incident. However, a few nights ago proved to be one of exception and painful consequence.
"After being in bed for an hour or so, I got up to get a drink of water. With my mouth as dry as the inside of a Kleenex box, I shuffled down the hall half asleep but still awake enough to enjoy the tickling feeling the carpet made on my feet. As I cleared the end of the hall, it felt good to pause by the heater. Continuing on only a few shuffles more, I met my doom. I think I actually felt the pain before it happened. With one fairly innocent shuffle, I crashed my foot into the dining room chair. The force was so great it knocked the chair over, and left me in a painful pile on the floor. The scream was muffled only because I had a mouth full of plush pile carpet. If I had only turned on the light, I would have avoided the pain!
"Too often Christians forget that they should not spiritually walk around in the dark. Not only should they avoid the darkness, they should also be a light that exposes the evil that is found in darkness.
"Remember that if we 'walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from every sin' (1 John 1:7)."

Thanks for What Is of Greater Value
There is a story of a young man who proposed marriage to a young woman. He gave her an expensive, beautiful diamond ring enclosed in an attractive blue velvet box. The following day after their engagement, the young woman said, "How can I ever thank you enough for the beautiful blue velvet box? I love it and will always cherish it!" How do you think her beloved felt?
A ludicrous story? Yes, except that it aptly illustrates the care and attention we humans give in this life to our body and physical well beings-which is like the blue velvet box. We spend about 99 percent of our resources and time on something that will return to dust. And we neglect the gift of the diamond, which is our living, eternal soul. We fail to thank God for such a priceless gift, purchased for us by the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.