Two months ago (by the time you read this article) I had surgery on my left eye. It was a simple procedure that lasted a few minutes, but the recovery has been slow and at times, painful. I have put enough drops in my eye to sink the Titanic all over again.
In addition to all this, I have visited the eye doctor several times after the operation and each time I see him is as “joyful” as a visit to the dentist. He makes me read all these letters on the wall, which isn’t that bad; but then it comes one of the cruelest acts of torture ever devised by man: The blinding light. The doctor examines your eyes for what it seems to be hours and you can’t even blink.
Why did I go through all this pain and humiliation? I wanted to improve my vision. The doctor used the light to discover the cloud (cataract) that was blurring my vision and used the knife to remove all the obstacles. Now, I have 20/20 vision once again in both eyes.
My eye ordeal and restoration pales in comparison with the former condition of my spiritual eyes before I became a Christian by the grace of God. My eyesight was so bad, that you can actually say that I was totally blind. This is what the Bible teaches. An unbeliever is dead in their sins (Ephesians 2:1). He is also unrighteous, ungodly and unable to do that which is good or to understand spiritual truth (Romans 3:10-18). Paul also tells us that those who reject Christ are blind.
“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
The light of Christ through the gospel shined over me and I was able to see for the very first time how sinful I really was and how holy God is. This is what happened to the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-7) as he saw the Lord and was appalled by his own iniquity.
Then (as in the case of the surgeon’s knife) came the Sword which is the Word of God, and cut through all the darkness in my soul and removed the chains of my sins. I can now exclaim with the former blind man:
“One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.” (John 9:25)
