Matthew 13: 15 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.
Calloused hearts, hard of hearing, and closed eyes. Sounds like a pretty hard up person. Some days, it feels like I am that person. It brings to mind something C.S. Lewis once said. “Be sure that the ins, and outs of your individuality are not a mystery to him; and one day they will no longer be a mystery to you”. We have heard it said a million different ways in our lifetime. To thine own self be true. If we are to turn, then we have to soften our hearts, open our ears, and our eyes. Why do you think the Lord used these terms, hard of hearing, blindness, and calloused hearts? Much like C.S. Lewis was pointing out, we have to know who we are, to really do that we have to hear things we do not want to hear, see things that we do not want to see, and we have to allow ourselves the vulnerability of a soft heart, even though it means we will be hurt. We all know people…..if we are being honest with ourselves, we might even say that we know that we are guilty of, closing up shop, and putting it on auto pilot. What I mean is that we know we need to make changes, but we choose not to see the fault, we know what we are saying is destructive, but we choose not to hear it, and most of all, we see people in need, or in trouble, and we close off our hearts, and say they deserve it, or they have to help themselves. It is not a pretty picture, but it is one that we paint often. Some might say, Brian why beat yourself up so much, or why be so hard on people? I would say it is not about being hard on ourselves, or other people, it is about living the life Christ showed us how to live. I am not saying that we should simply change a few things in our lives……no, I am saying we need to finally allow ourselves to start living each and every day! If we choose to hear only what we want, see only what we want, and feel only what we deem good, then we are not alive, we are nothing more than lifeless corpses wandering around bumping into each other, simply trying to survive the day. We have to see ourselves for what we are. We are imperfect, we do make mistakes, we do hurt people, and just as sure as we do it, I can promise you it is done to us as well. This however is living a life that is alive. When we allow ourselves to be honest about ourselves, to ourselves, then it becomes easier to see others as they truly are, not just as we want them to be. The first drop of honesty comes with going to Christ and baring yourself. Now you might think, why do I need to bare anything? Christ knows me. Ahhh yes, yes he does, but I know for me personally….nothing is real until I tell two people in my life. Christ, and my wife. By telling Christ, I open my soul up for healing, by telling my wife, I open myself up for reality. I might be able to rationalize anything, but between the Lord, and my wife, they usually paint a pretty clear picture of spiritual, and earthly reality………a lot of times I do not like it. Once it is done though, I can begin trying to change….and that is where having Christ in my life pays off in spades. You see Christ knows we are not perfect, but He also know that He can heal us. Christ knows we will stumble, but He will pick us back up. You see Christ knows all of this because He was there when we were formed, and He loves us…..He chose us, each and every one of us. I can only imagine the Angles looking at Christ when He picked me……I can hear them saying to Christ….that one? Are you sure? You KNOW he is going to be a handful……..All I can hear is Christ’s soft response, “yes, even this one I will give my life for this one as well, He is far more than what you see before you. I can heal Him, I can strengthen Him, I can love him.” But what about all of the faults…..he seems to have a lot of them”, I can hear the Angles ask. “Yes He does” responds Christ, “but if he will see them, if he will hear them, if he will open his heart, if he will simply ask…..I can make those faults his greatest strengths”. This is what keeps my eyes open. I know that Christ is not a liar. He has promised to heal me, and He has promised to heal you as well.
SO I challenge you today, open your eyes, your ears, and your hearts. Oh it might be a little painful at first, the eyes are a little sensitive when they have been in the dark for a while, the ears are overwhelmed when you first remove the ear plugs, and the pain sometimes seems unbearable when you strip the callouses off of your heart and it is tender once again. I will tell you the truth though, you will feel alive, and Christ will heal you.
God Bless,
Brian Thetford
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