KEEP AT IT
But those who don't grow in these blessing are blind. They cannot see clearly what they have. They have forgotten that they were cleansed from their past sins. (2 Peter 1:9 ERV)
In the natural world, we would never shun the blind would we? Well maybe a little, but we should not. We should go out of our way to help if we can. We certainly should not look down on them because they cannot see.
The same is true when it comes to people seeing and knowing God. If we are fortunate to be continuing in our quest for more of God, our compassion for those who are not should increase daily. Yes, we were once blind, but it has been given to us to understand, so we should get more understanding. We must continue on.
This morning it occurred to me that when we begin to have problems with our vision, we do something about it! We all want to be able to see. My bride wore glasses and contacts for most of her life. I always wanted to do whatever we could so she could see. I have been blessed with good vision but now I have lots of pairs of dollar store readers lying around, because I want to be able to read things when the light is low or the print is too small. When my wife had her eyes operated on a few years ago, it was so great to hear her comments on what it was like to see the clock in the night! The point is, we want to see. We should be no less interested in beholding what we have in Christ.
There is no end to the wonders that are ahead of us. All around us, there are people just like the folks at the time of Christ’s birth. There are wise men following the star to that perfect light. There are folks like the shepherds just hanging out waiting for an angelic message. There are people like those who turned Joseph and Mary away, and there are others to offer what they have.
There are also those like the king who wanted to find the child and kill him. Yes there are people who are blind to the promises of God. We are all obviously a little blind, because no one has yet seen all of the glory that God has promised us.
Jesus had compassion for those who did not know what they were doing. He just kept revealing God and His Kingdom in hopes that they would see and be changed.
If we have seen, are we continuing on? When I was a child we sang of the star of wonder and might leading us to that perfect light. It was a great song and we sang it boisterously, but I really do not think any of us had a clue at that time what were singing about.
As we enter the celebration of our Lord’s birth, let us all focus on Him and help others to see Him a little more clearly. Let’s do this with compassion remembering that we still have much to behold. Let the love of God be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Above all, keep at it.