Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Search Archive Print This Article Loving my enemy Friday, December 7, 2012 Isaiah 29:18-20 On that day, the deaf shall hear the words of a book. And out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. The lowly will ever find joy in the Lord, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the tyrant will be no more. Jesus healed the blind ... to what end? So they could see the beauty of the earth? Of course. So they could gaze on fellow men and women as they touched their faces? Yes. So they could close their eyes at night, and then open them again to behold the wonder of the morning world? More to the point, at least in our highly efficiencized world, so they could do their work and contribute to the well-being of the whole. Men and women of sight more easily find their way. My blindness is as real as the blindness of the beggars in Jerusalem. Walt Kelly wrote, "We have met the enemy, and he is us." Oh, yes. I have met the enemy, and he is me. Jesus' promise, through Isaiah, rings in my ears and blinds me with its light. "The tyrant shall be no more!" Jesus assures me that in the wake of his great joy, my own thoroughly false self has no say, no power, no more control. Over and over I lose my way, and over and over Jesus hears me when I cry. "Have pity on me, Lord!" And then again and again and again, as my eyes once more open, there is Jesus, welcoming. Beckoning. "Come on, David." This is the path he leads us on, into light and song and sweet victory. What after all is there to see, my Lord, but your face? One thing I ask, and this is what I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, and gaze on your loveliness, and contemplate your temple. You are my light and my salvation. Wait on it, wait on it ... wait for the Lord. "; Add      Edit    Delete