Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105
John 9
John 9:16 . . . But others asked, “How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?” So they were divided. NIV.
What a tremendous number of categories we have to describe people! Many of these categories separate people into desirable (people like me) and undesirable (people who seem different and therefore suspect). So, think about the categories we utilize: race, gender, religion, ethnicity, economic status, familial relationships, education level and type, including alma maters, age, political ideology, social media likes and following, sports played, sports teams supported, and fashion sense. I suppose you could come up with many more labels if you think about it for long.
While there may be important reasons for understanding people’s place in the scheme of life (if I need brain surgery, I want a brain surgeon and not a plumber!), many times I (and perhaps you as well) place people into categories to determine if we will interact with them. If someone comes from the “wrong side of the tracks,” some people will tell their children, “We do not play with them.” In our fractured world people at either end of the political spectrum have unfriended and unfollowed people from the opposite side.
One such divide centered around Jesus of Nazareth. He had performed an unheard-of miracle (then again what miracles are ever expected) when He healed a man blind from birth. Some denounced Jesus as a fraud and deceiver, who claimed a special kinship to the Father and thus a divine nature for Himself. Others looked at the situation with a somewhat more open mind. They never heard of a healing of this magnitude: a person blind from birth given sight. Indeed, they concluded this must originate from the One who gave sight to the eyes during creation. One who performed such a miracle must have God’s blessing. So, division resulted.
Today, when I look at my heart, I see how I can also be divided. I know God loves me and desires my best, but sometimes the path I follows seems long, hard, lonely, and boring. So, I search for another way out. Surely, the right lottery numbers will insure financial freedom. Surely a different job, or home, or spouse will produce happiness. Let me, rather, apply biblical logic, since God works everything for my ultimate good (Romans 8:28), I will not let the limited understanding of my needs and circumstance truncate my faith in the good and loving Father.
Grant me an undivided heart, that I will follow You faithfully in all I think, do, and speak. Amen.
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