Abundant Life, pt.
2
By
Jeremy Dehut
It
can seem like the process the blind man went through always
happens. You know as well as I that we can relate this to
our own lives. God blesses us and then something happens
that threatens to overshadow it.
•
We
become Christians - but our friends mock our new standards.
•
We
want to faithfully attend worship services – but we
receive daily pressure to skip for work or rest.
•
We
desire to read God’s Word every day – and all
of sudden our schedules get filled up and hectic!
•
We
are given an opportunity to speak up for God – and
run the risk of sounding “narrow-minded” to
people we care about.
•
We
long to use clean language – but are surrounded by
“sailors.”
When this happens, many people want to bargain with God.
They say things along these lines: “God, if you would
just transfer George to a different department, I would be
able to give us swearing.” “God, please get me
on the road sooner, so I don’t have to fight rush
hour traffic, then I’ll stop losing my temper.”
What we are really doing when we ask for “help”
like this is we attempt to place the responsibility for our
sin on God! What we are leaving unsaid, is that if God
doesn’t change our situation, then we will continue
to sin, and it’s his fault because he didn’t
change our situation. There are a couple of problems with
this kind of thinking.
1.
God doesn’t make us sin. Our sin is never, I repeat
NEVER, God’s fault.
•
“But each person is tempted when he is lured and
enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it has
conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully
grown brings forth death” (James
1:14, 15).
2. We hold to the false concept of situational
faithfulness. It other words, that the surroundings and
consequences must be just right for us to obey. Think about
these scriptures.
•
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for
righteousness sake…blessed are you when others
revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil
against you for my sake. Rejoice and be
glad…” (Matt.
5:10-12).
•
“Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not
worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and
whoever loses his life for my sake will find
it” (Matt.
10:38, 39).
Before we go any farther, let’s get back to the blind
man and see what choices he made.
Despite everything that had gone wrong that day, despite
the disappointment he suffered from others, and despite the
consequences he knew two things were certain:
1) “One thing I do know, that thought I was blind,
now I see” (Jn.
9:25).
2)
“If this man were not from God, he could do
nothing” (Jn.
9:33).
First, something astounding and life changing had happened
to him. And second, nothing good comes from anyone but God,
so Jesus must be from God. No revisionist historian, or
spin-doctor could change the truth of what had happened, no
matter how hard they tried. Thoroughly convinced, this man
committed himself to defending Christ and suffering the
consequences for it
After being cast out of the meeting with the Pharisees,
Jesus found this faithful man and comforted him by
revealing himself to be the Son of God. Immediately after
this Jesus gave the parable of the sheepfold, and extended
the offer of abundant life (Jn. 10:10). Those who
don’t understand what is truly valuable will never
understand this statement, but for the blind man and those
like him, there is no greater Shepherd or life.
The blind man decided to say, “Despite all the
opposition that may come, my life was impossibly changed
the day I met you, and every good gift comes from God.
Therefore, your claims are true, so I choose you.”
Won’t you do the same? Don’t choose to be blind
to the truths of God and His Word like the Pharisees.
Today, like the blind man, please chose the abundant life,
with all of its struggles and ultimate
victory!