Christian Living

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Former President Ronald Reagan writes in his autobiography, An American Life, of something very interesting that happened to him as a young boy. One Sunday afternoon, he was on a drive through the countryside with his father, mother, and older brother. As they were driving along he was playing in the back seat, and he decided to try on his mother’s glasses. Suddenly, a shout emerged from him that nearly caused his father to drive off the road. Something strange had occurred. The low brown masses he had seen against a blur of green were cows in a field, and the tall bunchy shapes against the background of blue were trees! Upon this revelation, his mother promptly brought him to an eye doctor, who fitted him with glasses.

On that afternoon in the family car, something amazing had happened—young Ronald Reagan had discovered the transforming power of perspective. Before he put those glasses on, he thought the world was what he saw—blurs and blobs. But it was when the lenses corrected his sight that he saw things as they really were.

The same is true of us. Before the Lord Jesus Christ graciously saved us from sin, we walked in a world of our own imagination. The “eyes” of our soul were darkened, and we could not see things as they really were. That’s not to say we didn’t try. We tried the goods of every optometrist out there—Dr. Humanism, Dr. Islam, Dr. Marxism, Dr. New Age—you name it. But none worked. It was only when the Great Physician Himself removed the scales from our eyes and fitted us with the prescription of His Holy Word that we began to truly “see”.

The process is not over, however. There is an interesting story in the Gospel of Mark that I think illustrates this point. In Mark 8:22-26, Jesus is in Bethsaida when a blind man is brought to Him to be healed. After leading him out of the town, Jesus spits on his eyes, lays hands on him, and asks the man what he sees, to which he replies, “I see men like trees, walking.” Jesus again places His hands upon the man’s eyes, and as the passage relates, “he was restored and saw everyone clearly.” (v. 25b) Like sight to this blind man, perception of spiritual truth does not come to our souls all at once. We are in the process of being transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Part of this process is realizing that our Great Physician is also a King—in fact, the King of the Universe. As our Sovereign, He demands total allegiance in every area of life. This is why the Apostle Paul writes, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

Paul speaks here of taking every thought captive because he understands that the battle for mankind begins in the mind. What we think (ideas) and how we view our world (paradigms) determines how we will act. Thus, he who rules the minds of men rules the world.

Let us strive then to strip away every false blinder in order that we might see all things in the light of His truth.

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