By Sade Akanni
(Living Seed Vol.12 No. 2 Aug 2005)
Every child of God is a spirit being. This is because he is born of the Spirit of God. As it is written, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (Jn 3:6). So if you are born again you have been regenerated. You are a baby in the kingdom of God and you have the seed of the divine nature planted in you to produce every aspect of the kingdom life. Just as a normal physical baby is born with his eyes, ears, hands, legs and all parts of his body complete, so also is every baby in the kingdom of God. You are born again with a complete spiritual sight though yet immature. You have the divine ability to perceive what has been freely given to you by God. But for every one that is not born again, he is un-regenerated and so he is blind. “…the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them who believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”(2Cor. 4:4). No matter how much he tries, he cannot see the kingdom of God. No matter how religious he is, he cannot please God. His perception and judgment are not right. He calls bitter things sweet and sweet things bitter. Even the wisdom of God in handling matters is foolishness to him. He lives in sin and calls it enjoyment. He takes delight in the pleasures of sin. Maybe that is your situation. You are blind and need urgent help. You need to cry in earnest prayer to God to have mercy on you and forgive your sins. Ask Him to take over the leadership and control of your life henceforth and make you a child of God. The Lord will hear your prayers and it is only then that your blind eyes will be opened.
As soon as a child is born, the need and challenge to grow faces him. For proper growth in all dimensions however, a child needs proper functioning of every part of his body. His legs, hands, ears, eyes and all other parts of his body have to grow while his body grows, he will become an abnormal adult if the other parts did not grow. If his sight also refuses to develop, he will also be abnormal. He will live to beg, no matter how men try to make life comfortable for him. Every other part of his body may be normal, but his lack of sight will hinder the proper functioning of all those other parts. To be handicapped in sight is to be handicapped for life. As it is physically, so it is spiritually.
There are many children of God today who are spiritually blind. Not that they were born blind, for God cannot make a mistake. His works and His ways are perfect. In fact, the miracle of the new birth is likened in Scriptures to the receiving of sight. The God of this world normally binds the eyes of the unbelievers so that they do not see their deliverance in the glorious gospel of Christ. What God does at the new birth is therefore to open their eyes to see and receive Christ and be saved. There is no salvation without the opening of eyes. Once you are born again, you are born complete with your spiritual eye sight inclusive. However, whether by accident or by carelessness, it is possible for you to lose your spiritual sight along the way and this will pose a big problem in your Christian life.
A blind man is handicapped. He can hardly do anything tangible by himself. He depends on other people for his survival. He is a beggar. He has to beg someone to cook for him, to lead him wherever he wants to go so as not to fall into a pit and so on. He needs help on all sides. It is the same with a man who is spiritually blind. He begs for everything he needs. He begs for prayers, he begs for spiritual food. Since he can not see, he can easily be cheated and led astray. He can easily be given wrong counsel and be Ied into false doctrines and he will not know. He is blind, not knowing the counsel of God. Such can easily be blown to and fro by every wind of doctrine. Sometimes even people who have their normal spiritual sight need the help of some other Christians to direct and lead them in a way they have not gone before. That is normal and necessary for our mutual spiritual growth in the Body of Christ, because the whole Body of Christ grows and is fitly join together by that which every joint supplies. But for a blind man, he needs help on almost, if not all sides. He is spiritually incapacitated. Even the good he knows to do, he can not, because he is blind. To supply anything from his life for the mutual benefit of the body of Christ, he is unable.
A blind man does not see when good comes. Good things normally by-pass such people because they cannot see. A blind man may be in a congregation where God decides to visit His people, yet he will not be visited. God may be visiting others around him, but may not have any longing for such an experience. When God by-passes such a one and it does not bother him, he is complacent. His spiritual situation does not bother him much. When others are growing, exercising themselves in the things of God, and experiencing God, he remains a baby, a beggar, unable to lift a finger to achieve anything spiritually. What a terrible situation! If your situation is like this, then you have a problem and you need to do all you can to regain your sight. Otherwise, you will surely become crippled in life and in eternity, no matter how much you try to cope with it and make yourself comfortable.
Furthermore, a blind man does not know, neither does he always receive the things of the Spirit because such things are spiritually discerned. He does not have a focus in life, neither does he know the vision of God for saving him. He may be full of Christian activities here and there, but he is blind. Even though other Christians all around him are growing on and enjoying their relationship with God, there is nothing to enjoy with blindness. When others are receiving great mysteries in their personal quiet time with God, the spiritually blind cannot. His mind is blind… There is a spiritual veil covering his eyes. He depends on what others say about situations. He/she goes from one man of God to another to hear what they would say about his or her situation. For him to personally receive something definite from God through Scriptures on issues is difficult. Is that the case with your life? Then you are blind and you need a divine intervention now that you still have the opportunity. You must not allow your life to be spent without fulfilling God’s purpose for saving you. You must not be deceived, neither should you deceive yourself. You need to recognize your situation and humble yourself so that God’s mercy may flow towards you.
We shall now look into what normally causes spiritual blindness in a person who has had a definite experience of salvation.
Living in sin
You are born again. Yes! You know it and even everybody around knew when it happened. Your life changed and you became a new person so much that you could not even hide it. But how is your life now? Are you beginning to tolerate some of those sins you renounced? You have forsaken the so called “big” shameful sins of fornication, murder, stealing, etc., but you still indulge in “little, little sins” like lying, bribery, cheating, etc. Perhaps your own problem is that you hate a brother! Then hear what the Bible says
“He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and
knoweth not where he goeth, because darkness has blinded his eyes. 1 John 2:9,11
You must repent and make things right with God and with your brother that God may show you mercy. A sin is a sin, no matter how little or big it is. And to live in sin, you automatically become a blind man, cut off from the source of divine light. “The way of a wicked man is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them to stumble” (Prov 4:19 NIV) You are a sinner, and as a sinner, you are blind. Your way is like deep darkness. That is why you lack spiritual illumination and direction over each step you want to take in life. Even when you take such steps and stumble, being so blind, you do not know what made you to stumble. Consequently, you continue making the same mistake, falling into the same pit repeatedly. Does that describe your life situation? You are blind and you need help from above.
Maintaining a double focus in life
“The light of the body is the eye; if therefore, thine eye be Single, thy whole body shall be full of light” Matt: 6:22.
Every normal person though with two eyes sees only one thing at a time. The two eyes are normally made to focus and concentrate on a single object at a time. When your eyes see different things at the same time, check it; you can never see clearly. In fact, people with such eyes are blind.
The light of your life is your eye, your focus in life. If your focus be single, then your whole life shall be full of light. It will be difficult for anything to cause you to stumble. That focus is what will take all your attention and you will be able to see quite clearly to accomplish it. Every detail of it shall be clearly seen because your eyes and your life are focused on one thing and not on two, but the case of a double-eyed man is not so. He has more than one thing he wants to achieve in the kingdom of God. He is involved with everything every time. He is full of different activities, yet he lacks a single focus. He is not better than a blind man. He has not yet been able to see God’s focus, God’s vision for his life. He dabbles into many activities because he sees others do them. Examine your life. Is that not your situation? Then you must not keep quiet. You must cry out to God for help.
Placing wrong value on eternal things
“Woe unto you, ye blind guides, who say, whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosover shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind; for which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?” Matt. 23:16-17.
Many lives today are so busy running after things that are approximately of no consequence in eternity. They pursue money, pleasure and self-comfort and leave eternal things undone. They place a high value on the gold of the temple and pursue more methods to get more gold for the temple. Yet, they leave the real thing -the temple itself untouched and count it as nothing. They forget that God does not dwell in temples built with human hands. He seeks to dwell in the heart of men. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. But this they place little or no
value upon. They give their lives no attention in God’s presence, to make it more habitable for God. Their lives can be getting rotten with sin; they do not care. As long as they get more money, more contracts, more business… and they even get for the temple, they are satisfied. You are there and this is your situation. Are you not blind? Money is not spent in heaven, for there shall be no buying and selling there. You will leave your money in the world on the day you die. Whose shall these things be that you have gathered up for yourself? You too judge. Which is more important, the money or the temple that sanctifies it? You surely need a divine intervention over the situation of your eye-sight, don’t you?
Having a lack in godly character
In 2 Peter1:4-8, the Scripture teaches us not to be contented with our faith in the Lord Jesus alone. We must not be satisfied with our experience of the new birth alone. Even though this experience is very crucial for us to inherit eternal life, it is only a foundation for all the eternal things that God wants to achieve in our lives. Upon experiencing the new birth, you must go on to build up godly characters in your life.
“And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge and to knowledge, self control… But he that lacketh these things is blind and can not see afar off, and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 2 Pet. 1:5, 6, and 9.
When you refuse to become more and more like Jesus in character and lifestyle, you are blind and you cannot see afar off. Even other blessings that God has reserved for you will not come to you because you are not able to see it and rise up to possess it. Rather, you will be running after unrighteous mammon, sweets, biscuits; perishable things instead of true riches. It is blindness that makes people unable to see and know the value if true riches. They do not know that when a man seeks the establishment of the kingdom of God, the Lordship of Christ in his life first, all other things shall be added unto him, including these perishables. Rather, they reverse the order. You must repent if you are in this kind of situation, otherwise you will still perish in your sins along with unbelievers. You need an opening of your eyes to be able to set your priorities right.
How shall these things be?
“And they came to Jericho; and as He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more, a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; He calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, what wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man Said unto Him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way. Mk 10: 46-52.
Bartimaeus was a man who was blind. He was a man, not a boy. He was already a full grown man but blind. We are not told he was born blind. If he were, the Scriptures would have told us. It is likely that he became blind after birth. He grew up without his eyesight growing correspondingly with other parts of his body. Quite an abnormal situation! Is that not the situation of many Christians today? They were not born again blind, but they became blind along the line. Yet, they still manage to grow up into manhood in other aspects of their Christian lives. They grow up in years of their spiritual birth; they grow up in spiritual language and other things, but not in their spiritual sight. They are blind, unable to maintain a constant, consistent personal relationship with God and to personally receive eternal dealings from God. They mature on second hand knowledge, on left overs of other men who have their own eyesight intact. They are men in other matters but babes in spiritual insight; blind spiritually. Incidentally, the eye is a very vital part of the body. It is the light of the body. Without it a man is handicapped even though he has two legs and hands. It will be amazing if you do not see the gravity of this matter.
Though mature and with the strength of a man, Bartimaeus was blind and so he was handicapped. His strength was of no use except to carry him to where he could beg. He was a beggar. He begged for food, clothes, direction, and for almost everything. He sat on the highway, the highway of holiness and righteousness, only to beg. What a pathetic situation! Could that be your present situation, my brother, my sister? Even though as children of God we are not to detach ourselves from one another and be independent of one another, yet each of us must maintain his sight, his focus given him in life by God. To contribute to the mutual growth of the Body of Christ, each joint must supply something. A blind man is of little or no help to any man. Rather, he needs help all the time. That was the situation with blind Bartimaeus.
But one day, his story changed. God, who never desired to have him blind, passed by him. It may be for your sake, dear reader, that this message is coming forth. Your situation will also change if you heed the Lord’s instruction as He passes by your life today. When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth, the only one who could change his situation was passing by he immediately began to cry out. It was no time for silent prayer. He cried out not minding that people around may be listening to his prayers. He was desperate. Nothing else mattered, but to receive his sight. There was nothing to be ashamed of; he cried out, “Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” Many charged him to hold his peace. In Luke 18:39 (KJV Scoff) where the same account of this blind man was given, it reads:
“And they who went ahead rebuked him, that he should hold his peace.” They who went ahead… senior brothers…, men who are ahead of you in revelation; brethren who do not know the gravity of your situation; men who prefer that you keep coming to them for prayers and for solution to your problem; instead of linking you up with the source of all solutions may tell you to keep quiet. These men preferred to give Bartimaeus more money or clothes, to make him quiet rather than disturb the protocol, the order of service for that day. They rebuked him that he should hold his peace.
The issue of receiving your sight is not something to keep quiet about. It is such a matter to cry out for. But as soon as you cry out, men who have gone ahead of you spiritually will not spare you. They will rebuke and discourage you. They will ask you to take it cool saying “after all you are not the only person with this problem”. They may even give you a relief package but that will only solve your problem temporarily. You must not be profane like Esau. You must not exchange your birthright for a temporary relief package which can best be described as a spoon of pottage.
Bartimaeus on hearing the rebuke of these men cried out the more, a great deal. And you must not do less. Despite discouragement from men and from situations all around you, you must cry out for mercy. God needs to have mercy on you now, for He may never pass your way again. Jesus never passed that way again! If blind Bartimaeus had not attacked his problem with such desperation he would have been blind for life, never able to accomplish God’s purpose for his life. Amazingly, even though Jesus was already nearby, He did not answer Bartimaeus’ cry at the first instance. One would wonder why, but I can see that this matter demands desperation demonstrated. It is possible for the blind man to have also stopped praying when the crowd rebuked him. That would show that he was not yet desperate. He still probably had alternative ways of solving his problem and a double minded man can not receive anything from the Lord.
But the man cried out the more, a great deal. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. Surely He will stand still to restore unto you your spiritual sight if you meet the conditions. And Jesus stood still! His blindness not withstanding, Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. One may wonder why Jesus did not go to meet the man knowing that he was blind. Meanwhile Jesus was going towards his direction, but on hearing the blind man’s cry, He Stood still and commanded him to be called. All this may be a test of his faith. You are the one to go to Jesus with your problem. Crying alone will not save you. You must get into His presence. You must attract Jesus’ attention to your situation.
Reaching this stage, you may think that the blind man’s problem had finished. He still had another hurdle to cross. There were some temporary relief packages he had before: a garment probably given to him as he begged for alms. He had to cast it away. Are there some temporary measures that you normally take to solve your problems, measures alternative to the real thing? Having no spiritual insight, do you go to certain prophets to receive counsel and direction from them all the time instead of having a direct relationship with the Lord? Or do you go to prayer houses to get your problems solved and are never able to get directly to God and get your needs met? When you are not able to do this, how will you be able to help others? You must first, as a mark of your faith and helplessness abandon all alternatives and arise and go to Jesus. Again, to abandon your temporary relief packages without arising to go to Jesus, will end you in more difficult situations. You must immediately arise and go to Jesus over the situation of your life.
Again when he got to Jesus, the Lord asked him, “What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?’ Jesus knew that he was blind, but He will not assume the reason for his cry. It is possible that the man would have asked for more money or clothes or food. But the man was wise. He knew the cause of his predicament, and he knew that he was in the presence of the Lord who is able to completely change his situation. If it were other men that called Bartimaeus like that, maybe he would have asked for money. But he knew that to ask Jesus such petty things that ordinary men could give him, would be a waste of divine presence. He knew that if he could gain his sight, he would be able to get all other needs of his life met. Without wasting time, he said, “Lord, that I might receive my sight”. Many times we waste God’s visitation on our lives. There are times we feel a great burden to pray but we only spend the time asking for perishables. We waste the divine Presence, not knowing and not being able to discern that “… only one thing is needful”. And sometimes we think that we will always have such a visitation of God and so we waste a divine privilege. The Scripture says “seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near” (Isa. 55:6). He may never pass by that way in your life again, just as He never passed by Jericho road again till He was crucified. Should God be telling you that this is the time to call upon Him over the situation of your spiritual blindness, you must not procrastinate. “And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight…”
Your situation is not beyond God’s ability. He will make you whole. It is only then you will be able to know what great things, what great inheritance you have missed, having been blind all this while. “And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.” This is another crucial step you must not omit in your search for spiritual insight. You must not be a prodigal son, who received his inheritance from his father, only to go out of his father’s presence to spend it. He was disconnected from source and consequently, he was finished. He himself became spent. Out there are harlots to help you squander God’s help in your life. As God restores your sight to you, you must remain in His presence and follow Jesus on the way. Great revelations, great works in His name, great provisions will surely begin to burst forth in your life. You must not be a prodigal. You must remain humble before God and follow Jesus in His footsteps. That is the only way you will maintain your sight.
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