Blind men

 In John 9:41, Jesus says, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say 'We see,' your sin remains."  Jesus is talking to the Pharisees, who have been questioning Him about healing a blind man on the Sabbath.  He is trying to make them see the importance of true sight.  Are we as blind as they?  

Jesus tells us, as do Paul and the other authors who have written parts of the New Testament, that we are saved by faith.  We must believe in Him.  But, in order to believe, we must be able to see.  We must be able to see our own sin.  Our own need.  If we are blind to our sin, we will be too blind to believe.  If we don't realize we are blind, we won't have the faith we need to be healed.  We need the Lord to open our eyes to see ourselves as we are and to see Him as He is.  We are sinful, dark, lost.  He is perfect, pure, holy.  The contrast is so great that, when we can see it we are brought to our knees in repentance.  But we have to be able to see it.  

One reason the Pharisees could not see their own blindness is that they did not have a teachable spirit.  We all desperately need a teachable spirit.  If the Pharisees had been like the Bereans (Acts 17:10-12), they would have listened to Jesus and then searched the Scriptures diligently looking to see if what He was teaching lined up with Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets (Luke 24:44).  They would have then been able to see that Jesus is Messiah, the one they had been waiting for!  We need to have teachable spirits.  We need to be willing to see.  Then we need to compare everything we are taught with Scripture so that we can learn Truth.  

Not having a teachable spirit is one symptom of the larger problem - pride.  If we are not teachable, we are so steeped in our pride that our vision is blurred.  The Pharisees had pride in abundance.  This is something the flesh provides every human being in great quantities.  Pride makes us unwilling to be teachable, but it also makes us unwilling to see any sin in our lives.  Seeing our sin is essential for repentance, which is essential for faith.  

Lord, please root the pride out of our hearts and give us eyes to see Truth - the truth about us and the truth about You.

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