Life Is Hard...Look Around

Palmer Park, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Growing up I was blessed to have a friend who had been born blind. I say blessed because he helped me see the world with different eyes (and he usually beat me when we sparred at wrestling practice).

In Junior High we students had circuit in the hallways that we walked before the first class bell rang. My blind friend would often hang on to my elbow as we walked the halls. I don't remember much of what we talked about, but I do remember his smile.

At times I thought about what it would be like for him to see creation for the first time. What would he experience if he actually saw the sun?

"Having said these things, [Jesus] spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam' (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing." John 9:6-7 English Standard Version

The man whom Jesus healed saw the world for the first time as he, too, was born blind, and it is Jesus who gives him sight.

If Jesus has the power to heal physical blindness he also has the power to heal us of our spiritual blindness. Our sin keeps us from seeing Jesus. This sin has been washed in the pool of his blood shed for us on his cross.

Through faith, we now see Jesus. We see his compassion, mercy and kindness to those of us who have been blinded by sin. And he now invites us to look around and see both the beauty of his creation and the beauty of his redemption.

Today's Challenge: Go for a walk and stop somewhere on your journey. Take a few moments and take a deep breath and look around at the beauty of what God has made. As you look at creation, remember that God has opened your eyes to see Jesus.

Join the conversation at Praying With the Eyes on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/groups/173881749421231/

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Text and Photographs ©Copyright 2012-2014 Douglas P. Brauner.  ARR.