Helen Keller, who was both blind and deaf, was asked, “What would you say is worse than being blind?” She replied, “Having sight without vision.”
Solomon says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Helen Keller and Solomon both recognize that we all need to have vision. What kind of vision do we have?
Is it possible to see and not recognize what we are seeing? Many of those who saw our Lord and heard his words did not realize that they were witnessing the Word of God in action right in front of their eyes. Jesus comments, “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”
It is possible to have the wrong kind of vision. The people Jesus speaks about may have thought their eyes were open, but they so lacked understanding that it was as if their eyes were shut. Isaiah describes those whose vision was wrong when he says, “They err in vision, they stumble in judgment.” We all need vision that is true and right, and it is important that our vision is in tune with the Lord and not with the world.
Paul explains how to get the right kind of vision and what leads to the wrong kind: “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile toward God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”
People nowadays see the evidence but do not acknowledge God. They observe the complexities and beauty of galaxies in space, the inner workings of molecules, but they have no perception of the divine hand that created it all. Their mind is controlled by their sinful nature and they will perish. They have the wrong vision.
Most of the people who listened to the words of Jesus and saw his miracles were those who rejected him and crucified him. Their vision was wrong. They lost their opportunity to be converted and healed. We are horrified by their actions and assure ourselves that we would have reacted differently, but would we? Are our eyes open? Right now the world is in turmoil, the Middle East erupting, financial systems in dire straits, and do we perceive the hand of God preparing for the return of his Son? Are we searching the Scriptures to remind ourselves of the prophecies being fulfilled? Are we preaching to our friends and neighbors about the coming kingdom? Or are we so involved in our personal lives and looking out for our well-being that we do not see the divine plan coming to pass?
To truly see the hand of God we need to know the Bible and keep its vision ever before us. We don’t want to be dull of hearing God’s Word or blind to His hand working in our lives and in our world. We want to be among those that are converted and healed by our Lord.
It is obvious that most of those living in our world are not thinking right. If they have vision, then it is vision set on what sinful nature desires. God describes the conditions on the earth at the time of Noah: “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.”
Jesus warns us that, just prior to his return, things will be like they were in the days of Noah: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”
We need only to open the daily paper or listen to the radio or watch TV or attend a movie to see that the thoughts of the people living in our world are only evil continually.
Since we are surrounded by the evil influences of the world all around us, we must make sure that our thoughts and visions are centered on God and His purpose with us in these last days. The Phillips translation in Romans 12 gives a graphic rendition of the advice Paul gives us, “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its mold but let God remold your minds from within.” If we follow this wise advice we will gain godly vision that will transform our minds, as Paul explains to those living in Corinth, “Incredible as it may sound, we who are spiritual have the very thoughts of Christ.”
Let us then voice the prayer of the Psalmist when he says, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One