Daily Devotional for October 5, 2021

Chris is in charge of our church audio/video ministries.  Every Sunday, he sits in the balcony, monitoring sound boards and video broadcasts.  It’s a lot.

Last Sunday, the congregation was absolutely memorized by my brilliant sermon.  It was so good, angels wept for joy, the Red Sea parted, and five blind men received their sight.

As I preached the greatest sermon in the history of sermons, Chris got the following text from Allison:  “We need to put Chris in charge of making a sign that drops down from the balcony that says the Cowboys kick off in 2 minutes!”

Apparently, my sermon was not as good as I thought it was. 

Allison’s mean, hurtful, upsetting, cruel, insensitive, tactless, cutting comment reminded me I needed to see the truth.  In turn, this thought led me to the old hymn written by Clara H. Scott, Open My Eyes.

Open my eyes that I may see
Glimpses of truth though hast for me.
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
Ready my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

As followers of Christ, we do not have the luxury of seeing the world for anything other than what it is.  Rose colored glasses, prejudices, and personal biases prevent us from seeing the truth.

Only by looking at all of life through the lens of Jesus can we truly see and understand who we are and whose we are.

When the scales fell from Saul’s eyes, he saw the truth and became the greatest missionary the world has ever known.

When Nebuchadnezzar regained his sanity, he saw the truth, and worshiped God instead of himself.

When the Ethiopian heard Philip explain Jesus was the Messiah, he saw the truth and became a follower.

For us, seeing is more than a matter of the eyes, it is also a matter of the heart.  That’s what really counts.

In Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, he says, “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, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:18-19a)

Prayer:  Dear Gracious Heavenly God, open the eyes of my heart so that I may truly see the truth.  Use me to open the eyes of others to your wonderful way of life.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

Seeing that God loves you more than life itself can change you.  Let the change begin.

Also, just for the record.  Now that I’ve had some time to digest Allison’s text message, I have come to the conclusion she wasn’t paying attention to begin with.  It really was a brilliant sermon.

I will pray God helps her see the truth.

I pray your day is filled with joy and laughter.
Tom Robbins