Daily Reflections on Mt. 15:1-14 (I Didn't Know It Was There)

It was amazing. One week I could see and the week I turned 40 my eyes failed me. I couldn't see to read. It was embarrassing asking my kids to read menus or phone numbers or labels to me. The most common line in my vocab was, "What's that say?" How could you read so clearly and then it's gone.

It probably happened slower than I expected, but it felt like I just went blind. My eye doctor, Tami, explained the "maturing" process to me and ordered me a pair of glasses. Even with glasses my eyesight has deteriorated with each maturing year.

Jesus seems to be talking about what happens to a lot of religious people. The older they get, the blinder they become. Traditions gets confused with truth. Practices/methods get confused with doctrine. Church gets confused with Christianity. It becomes harder to offer grace and easier to embrace rules and rituals. A form of spiritual blindness sets in. Music styles, dress, evangelistic approaches, translations of the Bible, even church names become tests of fellowship. Unfortunately I've encountered the people described in verses 8-9 of our text all too often in the church.

Recently my hard drive died in my laptop and had to be replaced. After describing the problem to several tech/computer gurus, the nearly unanimous opinion was that a nasty virus had corrupted my files and killed my hard drive. The only solution, buy a new laptop or put in new hard drive. Some how or another, even with my virus protection, something got into my computer and killed it. Once it was inside, the problem grew, unnoticed, until my whole operating system was infected.

Eyes, blindness, computer viruses they can sneak up on you, even if you're trying to be vigilant. Sometimes they grow and eat away at your vitality without you ever noticing. That's what Jesus is pointing out to us spiritually? What's developing in your heart, in your attitude, in your behavior? What's taking over and spilling out? Are you more concerned about worship styles and what people are wearing to church than you are about those who don't yet know Christ as Lord and Savior? Are you more concerned about having pews instead of chairs than you are about people suffering through divorce or physical abuse or single moms struggling to make ends meet. Are you more concerned about your church programs than you are about the aged, the homeless, the broken, the helpless in your community?

God, help me to see you clearly. Help me to see my own heart and attitude clearly.