I CORINTHIANS 2:14-16: “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” NKJV

OBSERVATION: I will never forget the day my eyes were opened! It was as if I just learned a new language. All of a sudden I could see the reality of life. What was once a blur became a focused picture. I felt like my life was a Polaroid snapshot and I was watching it focus right before me.

I grew up in a Christian home. We went to the Lutheran Church. My parents sacrificed to send my sister and me to parochial school so that we could get a quality education and receive spiritual training. Each day we would study the Bible and every Wednesday we would have Chapel. I knew the liturgy backward and forwards and I had respect and a reverence for the church.

Yet my eyes were closed to spiritual things!

When I was in 7th grade I went through Catechism. This was the preparation for being confirmed in the Lutheran Church so that you could be accepted as an adult in the faith and partake in communion. On the day of my confirmation, I was dressed in a new suit and I remember how proud my parents were. My father gave me a special gift – a Bible with my name engraved on the front. Confirmed, with Bible in hand, I still had a problem…

My eyes were closed to spiritual things!

As I entered my teenage years I went through many times of crises. There was the normal stress of growing up. However, I battled with fear, doubt, and anger in my heart. I really did not understand the source of my anger and I could not seem to control it. There was a hole behind the mirror in our bathroom that was a testament to this anger. At times of deep crisis, I would take the Bible my father had given me and try to read it. I did not understand a thing.

My eyes were closed to spiritual things!

After High School graduation I immediately moved out to be on my own. Perhaps now my future would change. The world was before me and anything was possible. However, I still could not shake this sense of uncontrollable doubt, fear, and anger. At times I would reach for that Bible and try to read it – with no success. Then one night, alone in my apartment, I got down on my knees and cried out to the Lord…

“JESUS – IF YOU DON’T CHANGE ME IF YOU DON’T HELP ME, I DON’T WANT TO KEEP LIVING!”

This was not your normal “Sinners Prayer.” I believed in God, I believed in Jesus, yet I had never humbled myself and surrendered my life to Christ. I was unaware of the change that had taken place in my life at that moment. However, I remember that I was compelled to reach for my Bible. As I opened the Bible my father had given me, the one I had tried to read so many times, something was different.

My spiritual eyes were opened for the very first time!

All of a sudden I understood what I was reading. And, more than understanding, my heart began to leap with joy over the truth that was being revealed in the pages of Scripture. I could not put it down. I began to devour the New Testament. I read it and re-read it. My Bible soon became a colorful book filled with highlighted verses and notes as I continued to grow in my understanding and the revelation of God’s truth. And, as I grew in God’s Word something else happened…

My fear, doubt, and anger were washed away!

Suddenly my heart began to explode with love. I was not perfect for sure, but I was being transformed. As I began to walk with Jesus, as I began to read His Word, as I began to worship with others, and as I began to share my faith – my entire life changed! I did not realize it before all this happened, but I discovered that my eyesight was connected to my heart. When Jesus changed my heart – the Holy Spirit gave me new eyes! I experienced the truth of what Paul wrote in I Corinthians,

• “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”

When my brother-in-law received Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and Lord, I gave him this precious Bible. I prayed that it would bless him as much as it had blessed me. Years went by and I would often think of the gift my father had given me. Then, one day, as my sister and brother-in-law were cleaning their house, decades later, he found this Bible and gave it back to me. Some of the notes in the margins showed the enthusiasm of my age when I wrote them. Yet, they were expressions of newfound life and the ability to see the reality of life.

My prayer for anyone who reads this story is that they can experience the same life-changing gift of spiritual sight as I did. For years Jesus was standing at the door of my heart knocking. I would get close to the door but I never opened it – until that night. It was only when I humbled myself, cried out to God, and asked Jesus to save me that I received my sight.

When I came to the end of myself I found Jesus!

When I found Jesus I was given new eyes!

When I read the Bible through new eyes I received life!

Lord, may everyone who calls upon Your name experience the gift of everlasting life and the ability to receive the mind of Christ! Open our spiritual eyes so that we can see Jesus!

In Jesus’ Name!