Seeing is Believing

My mom recently had cataract surgery on both eyes. Before the surgery, her sight was extremely limiting her ability to properly assess things around her. Once she could see again she realized how much she had overlooked in her own house. Her home was not as clean or dust-free as she thought it to be. Furniture that she thought was in good shape was marred and in need of repairs. But to her, everything seemed just fine. Good, in fact. But that was not reality.

As she was sharing this experience I began to think about the process of sanctification. As image bearers, even non Believers have a general sense of right and wrong. The word tells us that the law is written on the hearts of man (Romans 2:14-16). So most people have conscience enough to recognize the big sins, but often they are blind to how far they are from the perfection of Christ. You will find they are convinced that they are a good person if you ask them. But once a person gets saved they often have an eye-opening experience where the extent of their shortcomings becomes much more clear. But it doesn’t stop there.

There is something exciting about the zeal of a new believer. They often jump in with both feet, devouring the word, walking away from the life they once knew, and experiencing total transformation. But just about the time they think they know what it means to be holy and are getting close to hitting the marker, it moves. God suddenly makes their vision a little sharper and they realize once again that they still have a long way to go. It happens to us all. My mom often uses the following illustration to explain our own self-deception…

Have you ever cleaned a window or mirror with Windex and thought it looked perfectly clean? But when the midday sun shines directly on it you see how much you actually missed. There are untold numbers of streaks and dust that were hidden from sight but are now completely visible. The problem is that we’ve been trying to clean the glass with our good works that Isaiah 64:6 calls “filthy rags.” We can deceive ourselves into thinking we’ve arrived, but when the light of Christ shines directly on us, we discover we still fall woefully short of perfection.

So it’s an ongoing process, this sanctification business. The reason we keep pressing on is because we know the more we look like Christ, the more we please God, and the more we please God, the closer we are to Him. If hell is total separation from God, then anything moving in the opposite direction must be that much closer to heaven. So, until the day that our sanctification is made complete, Lord, continue to give us sight to eliminate more streaks so that we may know you. And that in knowing you, we will look more like you, so that others may come to know you too.

“One thing I do know. I was blind and now I see!”

— John 9:25