From 50 Days of Devotionals through the Chronological Harmony of the Gospels
A few months ago, I once again became a member of the “Truck Club”. I bought a 2015 Dodge Ram. My two previous trucks had been Chevy trucks but neither had an extended cab and neither had a huge blind spot. Several times, cars coming up on my right have surprised me. I went out the first week and bought two little oval “fish-eye” mirrors to help me see, but the new mirrors are still in the cab. And thus, my blind spot remains.
I thought about my blind spots in my truck when I read today’s passage. Little places (and some not so little) where sins lurk just beside me, ready to sneak up and suddenly pounce on me.
John Newton had a severe blind spot. He was totally blind spiritually in his younger years, serving as a captain of a slave ship and then even after his salvation, maintaining a financial interest in the slave shipping business.
It’s ironic, but not uncommon, for people to commit sins of which they themselves were once a victim. Newton had been forced into naval service, but that was not his enslavement. He tried to desert from the Royal Navy and as punishment he was flogged with 96 lashes, but that was not his greatest hardship.
For three years, Newton was owned, humiliated, and abused by Princess Peye in west Africa, describing this period as being a “slave of slaves”. He was finally rescued, and on his trip home, a severe storm caused him to cry out to God. He made it back to England, accepted Christian principles, changed somewhat in his lifestyle, and began reading the Bible. But Newton would say later, he was not a “full believer” yet.
In John chapter 9, the man born blind was instantly healed by Jesus. But other times, the blind were healed progressively (see Day 19, Mark 8:22-26). Some were healed by Jesus spitting a clay mixture like today’s reading, other times, just by spitting in their eyes, and still others He simply touched them (Day 16).
But there were some types of blindness Jesus did not heal: those who were spiritually blind and would not admit it. I think about my own blind spots (not those on my truck!): tender spots perhaps from past hurts that haven’t totally healed. Past sins of which God has forgiven me, but I have not forgiven myself, at least not totally.
Jesus often asked the blind and lame what they wanted done for them. Even today, some would rather stare into darkness and keep their sin than be released. Others receive their sight, but, like Newton, refuse to release those who are trapped in the same slavery which once held them.
Within Newton’s most famous hymn, Amazing Grace, he penned the words, “I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.” It took Newton years to quit the slavery business and decades to speak out against it. But when he did, he along with William Wilberforce, finally accomplished that wicked sin’s abolition in England in 1807. Newton died in December that same year.
A lesser known but equally powerful quote from Newton came during his latter years of advanced age, when he did not always recognize people nor remember things. During this time he said:
“Although my memory’s fading, I remember two things very clearly:
I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.”
Today’s passage concludes with Jesus’s statement, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty; but since you insist, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.” In other words, “You cannot heal a wound by simply saying, ‘It isn’t there.’”
Lord Jesus, thank You for healing the blindness of my sin. But I admit, my blind spots still trip me up. Like head checks when driving, remind me to do heart checks in my spirit, confessing and forsaking my sins to keep me from crashing. Thank You for Your amazing grace and for being a great Savior.
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