Joh 9:1 And passing by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. Joh 9:2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, Master, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Joh 9:3 Jesus answered, Neither has this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God might be revealed in him. (MKJV)

I believe Jesus wants us to apply His point of view (as found in John 9:3) to everything that happens to us. The disciples in the above verse have the carnal point of view, the worldly point of view. They are looking for whom to blame for the illness.

Are we not continually looking for whom we can blame for our inconveniences and our pain? We want to fix everything in this carnal world that bothers us so that we don't have to deal with it ever again. In addition, we feel that if it isn't corrected, no one will ever learn that they shouldn't do the bothersome deed. Are we here on this planet to fix it and make it all better so our lives can run more smoothly? Or are we here on this planet to know the saving power of Jesus? We cannot do both.

The worldly point of view is to look for whom we can blame for our problems. However, Jesus sees things differently. When asked whose fault it was that the man was born blind, Jesus said it wasn't anyone's fault. No one was guilty! He was born blind that the works of God might be revealed in him. He, then, healed the blind man. Jesus did not look at sin. He merely shined His light on it and it withered in the face of truth.

It is difficult in this world for us to accept Jesus so firmly and with so much conviction that we are willing to recognize that Jesus died so that our sins and the sins of others need no longer be our focal point. Yes, let's not forget that He shed His blood on the cross for us so that we might have eternal life after death but He also shed His blood so that we might have abundant life before death. We must let Him do His mighty healing work through us now. We cannot let Him do His mighty healing work through us if we are dwelling on the sins and not on Him. It's a God or mammon thing. Are we looking at the sin or are we looking at Him? Which is it going to be?

Mat 6:24 No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise and be against the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions, or whatever is trusted in). (AMP)

Sin is like an anchor on our ships of life. Jesus sacrificed His life to remove the anchor of sin that is ensnared in the weeds and all that grows in this carnal world. This anchor of sin (both ours and our brothers and sisters we travel with) restricts our spirits and grounds us in mammon (or the things of this world).

The Holy Spirit probes deeply into our minds and brings the anchors of sin to the surface where Jesus can heal them. He shines them away so they are gone, once and for all. We no longer need bury our faces (and our attention) in the muck and mire of this world.

During the conversion process we have turned our ships over to the Master and Commander Who takes over our steering. He promptly begins to pull up our anchors of sin which are hung up on the carnal things and judgments on the ocean bottom. In order to have a joyful Christian life, it is necessary to step back from the ship's controls and release our hold on the anchors of sin by looking only to Him. Do we look at the sin or do we look to Him? Only to Him. And if our faith and trust needs bolstering, then He will bolster it as we pray, believing He will.

Paul advised us to dwell only on what is true for us in the following verse:

Phi 4:8 For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them]. (Amp)

Let us also continually dwell only on our Master and Commander, Jesus, as the Holy Spirit dredges up the anchors we are gripping so tightly. Let us not be afraid of God's work in us but allow Him full control. He will not leave us comfortless…ever. Praise God!

Once we get past the petty appearances in this world that speak of sins and all of sins' results by turning our eyes to Jesus, we will start to see the mighty miracles of healing that He can bring to us. There will be nothing that He can't heal. Everything from minor annoyances to major relationship problems, and even illness can all disappear under the mighty power of Jesus Christ.

Our soul responsibility is to turn our eyes to Him, unwaveringly and allow Him to do His work through us. Like Peter when he walked on the water toward Jesus, we must not look down at the murky waters or we, too, will sink. We must keep our eyes on Jesus, totally submitting all problems to Him. If we choose to take on the problems ourselves, we will lose our way because only Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Only He can solve the problems so they are really solved. Whenever we take on the burdens of this world, we invariably cause the problems to take on unnecessary complications and prolong the healing process.

Let's give them all up to Jesus. Let's give them all up to Him. My prayer is that soon we'll all be singing, “Anchors Away!”

Back

TOC

Next