Monday, August 29, 2011

"Open my eyes... " (Psalm 119:18)

Cuba Gooding Jr., from the film Radio
 "Open my eyes that I may see
    wonderful things in your law." 
(Psalm 119:18)
 
There is a 41-year gap between the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (1865) and the claimed first transmission of audio by broadcasting (1906). Suppose I were alive in 1865 and I live in a remote barrio in Pangasinan, I wonder how long it would take for the news to reach me? I suspect I would not even know that Abraham Lincoln exists.

Last week, when it was announced that Muammar Ghaddafi was wounded due to airstrikes and has fled Tripoli, the news spread quickly. Perhaps by Friday night, almost every Filipino heard about Libya's violent transfer of power.

When in comes to access to knowledge and information, this is a privileged generation. Gone are the days when every studious pupil's dream is to have a set of a multi-volume encyclopedia. Who needs to spend a fortune for a set that will be obsolete within a decade when Google is right before your fingertips?

When it comes to bible study, there are many tools available online: different bible versions, commentaries, dictionaries and expository sermons. A decade ago, if you want to hear the voice of John MacArthur, you have to be content with 20-minute broadcasts every night. Now, audio recordings from his 4-decade ministry is archived and available free of charge. You can even afford to be choosy. If MacArthur is not your type, go to Sermonaudio.com and take your pick.

While we must be thankful for such a privilege, we must also take heed, for this privilege could also be the cause of our downfall. How?

The danger is that we may think that spiritual insight is a common thing. And when something is common, you will not earnestly look for it. No one migrates to the Middle East for sand; we have enough of that in our  beaches. They go there because of job opportunities-- opportunities which are rare here.

But spiritual knowledge has never been common. You can't find in abundance. Spiritual insight was not given to all the families before the great flood but to Noah's family alone. God did not call out everyone from Chaldea, but Abram alone. The law was not given to all the nations, but to Israel alone. In Matt. 11:25, you won't even know God unless he chooses to reveal himself to you.

The first step to acquiring spiritual insight is admitting that we are blind to heavenly truths. Unless we take that first step, we would not plead earnestly before God to open our our eyes. There are many wondrous things in nature: the plants, the beaches, the sky, the rainbow, the butterflies, the smile of infants-- yet what are these things to me if I am blind? In the same way, unless the Lord opens our spiritual eyes, the wondrous things in the word of God will be of no value to us. We may open our bibles with all the tools in our library, but they shall remain as mere paper and ink.

The bottom line is for us to approach God's throne with humility and earnestness. Let us acknowledge that he possesses absolute prerogative to grant or withhold divine knowledge.

3 comments:

  1. Facebook comments:

    Sheryll
    may kaibigan po akong bulag, she would always say God allows her to see things in a different way. She knows she needs the Lord to give her "insight" and this is why she sees farther than the rest. :)

    Manny
    yun nga siguro. Tayo, we have this sense of self-sufficiency. Samantalang yung friend mo, alam niya na dependent siya sa pag-akay ng Panginoon. Pinagpala siya! Thanks for your input Sis. Sheryll!

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  2. Replies
    1. Thanks for the feedback Sam!
      To God alone be the glory.

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