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On The Other Hand

             I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, (Ephesians 1:18)

          Yesterday’s post had to do with being sober and alert for our enemy. Today, my Bible platform spun us around. Yesterday, Peter told us to be alert and sober, to pay attention. He called for us to be active. In today’s passage, Paul didn’t tell us to open our eyes and pay attention. He said he prayed that our eyes would be opened. His hope was for our blindness to be healed or removed. Or perhaps that our vision would be expanded. We like to think we’re not blind, but we can see only 0.0035% of the electromagnetic spectrum. That’s one of the reasons why the notion that the claim that science gives us the truth based on what we can see, hear, feel, smell, and taste is so amusing. If we can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist, except we can measure only a small percentage of all that’s out there.

          Now, of course, Paul referred specifically to the eyes of our hearts, but if our physical eyes are so limited, would it really be a surprise to find that the eyes of our hearts are similarly impaired?

          But the focus today isn’t really on our blindness. It must be addressed, but if we live only out of yesterday’s verse, we’re likely to spend our lives in fear and anxiety. Today’s focus tells us there are other things to look for: hope, and God’s riches. Ultimately, I believe Paul is calling us to see as much of God as He reveals to us. But to do that, we not only need our eyes opened, but we need to look. If our focus is entirely on the enemy, our enemy becomes our god.

          If we are going to err here, would it not be wiser to err by seeking God? After all, He can and will alert us to danger and protect us. But, better still to learn wisdom and how both to defeat the enemy and seek God.

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