Fixtures

Then he [Jesus] spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing! His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!”
John 9:6-9 NLT

My desk, keyboard, phone, and computer screen look as though a couple packets of Post-It notes exploded in my area… I really like sticky notes. They’re great for reminding myself about things I need to do. The downside of it is that after a while - and so many - I get desensitized. I no longer see them as an urgent need. Nor do I distinguish one from the other because I’m not always looking directly at them. For a Post-It note, it’s not that big a deal… Just a fixture in the scenery of life.

Do you remember the first time you saw a homeless person? I went right around the corner and bought some fast food and came back around and gave it to him… then cried all the way home. I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t cry about it like I used to, and I don’t buy a burger for all of them… When did we become desensitized? Do we still see them as an urgent need?  Can we distinguish one from the other?  Do we ever make eye contact with them or are they just a fixture in the scenery of life…

The neighbors had seen this blind beggar every day – they may even have thrown coins in his cup to help him. But the truth is he was a fixture in the scenery of life… until Jesus. And Jesus so changed the man’s life by opening his eyes that some of the neighbors didn’t recognize him. And the wild thing is – the guy never even saw Jesus! The man did not know who had performed the miracle – he just knew he was changed. He went from begging to a beginning…

When was the last time I said or did anything for Christ that so changed a life that someone went from begging to a beginning? In John 14:12, Jesus said, I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works…

Prayer:

Father,
           Direct my path, Lord, my every step. Help me to see my neighbors as You see them. More importantly, Father, let me love them as You love them…and me… In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen