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John 9:1-6
Suggested further reading: Psalm 90:1-12
We are told of a man `who was blind from his birth'. A more
serious affliction can hardly be conceived. Of all the bodily crosses
that can be laid on man, without taking away life, none perhaps is
greater than the loss of sight. It cuts us off from some of the
greatest enjoyments of life. It shuts us up within a narrow world of
our own. It makes us painfully helpless and dependent on others.
In fact, until men lose their eyesight, they never fully realize its value.
Now blindness, like every other bodily infirmity, is one of
the fruits of sin. If Adam had never fallen, we cannot doubt that
people would never have been blind, or deaf, or dumb. The many ills
that flesh is heir to, the countless pains and diseases and physical
defects to which we are all liable came in when the curse came upon
the earth. `By one man sin entered into the world, and death by
sin' (Rom. 5:12).
Let us learn to hate sin with a godly hatred, as the root of
more than half of our cares and sorrows. Let us fight against it,
mortify it, crucify it and abhor it both in ourselves and in others.
What a solemn lesson Christ gives us about the use of
opportunities! He says to the disciples who asked him about the blind
man, `I must work while it is called today: the night cometh, when
no man can work.'
That saying was eminently true when applied to our Lord
himself. He knew well that his own earthly ministry would only
last three years altogether and, knowing this, he diligently
redeemed the time. He let slip no opportunity of doing works of mercy
and attending to his Father's business. Morning, noon and night,
he was always carrying on the work which the Father gave him to do.
The life that we now live in the flesh is our day. Let us take
care that we use it well, for the glory of God and the good of our souls.
For meditation: Our time is very short. Our daylight will soon
be gone. Opportunities once lost can never be retrieved. A
second lease of life is granted to no man.
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