Unveiling Spiritual Blindness

by Rev. Victor C. Yakubu  |  10/24/2021  |  Weekly Reflection

When you find something of value, you are likely to share your findings with others. Unless it is a cache of gold in the Gobi Desert, you are likely to announce your find so that others can share in your joy. Gold can lead to some selfish behavior and you are likely to avoid hasty publicity and, in the process, lead others to plunder the site and cart away your newly found precious metals. Valuable items are guarded jealously. And when we discover something that is most valuable to our lives, we marvel at the discovery and celebrate it like no other in the past.

The gift of sight is the best we can ever hope for because it allows us to distinguish between colors, to identify objects, and to navigate our way. The inability to use our sight can be devastating and it is better imagined than talked about. The blind man Bartimaeus only wanted to see and so he made the request to Jesus. He knew that Jesus was passing his way and he overcame all obstacles just to register his presence with Jesus. After Jesus heard his request, he saw his faith and granted him his request. He regained his sight, and Bartimaeus celebrated with every element of energy in him.

The kind of blindness that is most dangerous is not the physical one but in the realm of the spiritual. I was told that the most difficult person to awake from sleep is the one who is pretending to be deeply asleep. No matter how you shake them, they pretend to be deeply asleep. Likewise, it is difficult to let someone know their spiritual blindness because faith is lacking in their spiritual life.

Unless there is faith, you cannot shake-off your blindness in the spirit to comprehend the things of the spirit. Bartimaeus knew his limitations and sought immediate assistance from Jesus.

For you to shake-off your blindness in the spiritual realm, you need to understand what the Prophet Jeremiah says in today’s first reading. The Lord promised that he would deliver his people especially the lame, the blind, mothers with their children from bondage, and restore them to their former glory. Although the people of Yahweh suffer in exile, He will return them to their former glory and heal them of every affliction.

The point to remember is to know that God desires another beginning for you. There is always a new chapter to be opened in your life when you realize that you have lived this while in spiritual blindness. You need to allow God to work in you by establishing faith in Him. The book to the Hebrews says God can deal with the ignorant and erring in order to transform them into instruments of his glory.

There is no better time to start than now. Your faith is more than gold in the desert, and the gift of sight is precious. This moment is the acceptable time that the Lord is waiting for you on the road of life just like Bartimaeus. You need to show faith by calling on Jesus to assist remove your spiritual blindness so that you can experience new life with God forever.
Keep praying!