Is it really that simple?
Chasing light is hard when the world is as dark as it is. I don't even have to provide a list of bad things, you can do that yourself. We've all seen it, heard it, felt it, know it. It's dark. I'd like to share a story about light.
So there's this man in the New Testament named John. He was an eye-witness to everything Jesus said and did after he began his adult ministry. John did this great thing, he wrote it all down. I highly recommend reading this book from the Bible, even if you never read another one. This one has almost everything you need to know about Jesus. I'd like to retell one of the stories that John shares.
One day Jesus was walking and passed by a man who was blind from birth. He knew it because the parents of the guy were with him and verified the story. The men with Jesus asked him, Rabbi, what's up? Did this guy sin? Did his parents do something wrong? Is that why he's blind? Jesus quickly answered no. He's blind because it's an opportunity for me to show you what God is about. We need to be what God is about while it's still day time. Night is on the way and no one will be able to do anything in the dark. As long as I am in the world. I am the light of the world. Then Jesus made some mud, put it on the blind man's eyes, and told him to go and wash it off. When the guy came back he could see. People standing around were startled and amazed....isn't this the kid we see all the time begging for help because he can't see? It looks like him but it can't be him. Then the healed man said, it's me, I'm him! Then the folks brought him to the people who were viewed as the ones who know everything, (teachers called Pharisees). The teachers of the law were upset about the fact that Jesus delivered the man his sight only because he did it on their holy day. (Jesus liked to buck the system like that.) These Pharisees then asked the man's parents, Is this your kid, the one you say was born blind? How is he seeing?
We don't understand what happened, but our son is old enough, ask him! So they asked the healed man himself. His response? I don't know whether this man who healed me is a sinner because he did it on the Sabbath, but one thing I do know is that I was blind, and now I can see!
In that one statement he made simple the very truth that the "know it alls" were trying to make complicated.
I was blind but now I see.
There's the light in the story. Literally. Jesus turned on the light in this man's life. Who cares what day he completed this task. The people in the Bible bound up by the laws were so trapped by the rules in which they lived they couldn't see the glaring Light of the World that was right in front of them.
So often I meet people that feel foolish for believing in this same Light. In Jesus. They are too educated to believe. Faith by definition is belief that something is true even if you can't explain everything about it. If you can’t explain something does that make you stupid for believing in it?
You know what? There are a lot of things we believe in that we can't really explain fully. The sun will rise tomorrow. The air we breathe will continue to be available to suck into our lungs tomorrow. Gravity will tie us to the earth so we don't go spinning out into space tomorrow. We believe all these things will happen but we can't really explain how or why. Other than the simple fact that we experience the benefits of them every day.
My point is this. The blind guy didn't get all the why of his story but he knew what happened. He could see. Is it really that simple? Do we have nothing to lose by putting our faith in Jesus, and everything to gain?
Chasing the light,
Angie
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