Although I was warned, I didn’t really want to know about the consequences of my choices. None so blind as those who will not see. I don’t want you to be blind, like I was. You are the only one who can answer the big questions of life for yourself, and bear the consequences of your choices.
Click here if you prefer to listen to the podcast: Podcast #48 None so blind as those who will not see
Some years ago, we got new floor tiles in our kitchen/dining area. We wanted a light-coloured tile and chose a mottled white one. All good. Then came the time to choose the colour of the grout. The tiles in our laundry have dark grey grout that has darkened further with age. I didn’t want the new flooring to look like a chessboard, so I chose white grout.
Of course, I asked for advice. The woman in the tile shop advised against it, but she didn’t force her opinion – we could have whatever colour grout we wished. The tiler said that most people had light grey. He even suggested that white grout might get dirtier quicker. He said I could use two buckets for mopping, one containing detergent, and one containing clean water for rinsing the mop each time. Oh, yes, I thought, I can do that.
The new floor looked so good! One of our first visitors said, “It looks so clean!”
But just 2 ½ years later, it looked so dirty! I always did the extra work with mopping, and we took off our shoes before walking inside, but the grout was no longer white. So, we spent a lot of money to get it all cleaned. It was better than before but not as good as new.
What am I here for?
I just wanted a nice floor. What’s so wrong with that? We did need new flooring, so it wasn’t an extravagant expenditure. I didn’t choose the most expensive imported tile. I don’t see my purpose as having the best of everything, or proving that I’m better off than everyone else in the street. But my purpose is also not to be scrubbing floors every other day, nor feeling guilty that I haven’t scrubbed the floors yet. I want to be able to invite friends around without worrying that they’ll notice the dirty-looking floor, or that they’ll bring more dirt inside.
None so blind as those who will not see
Oh, dear. What a drama. And it was all my mistake! The tiler and the shop assistant both warned me. Why didn’t I listen? I thought it would look so good. I couldn’t see the problems that would emerge. It reminds me of the proverb, ‘There is none so blind as those who will not see.’ This saying comes from the Bible:
Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
Jeremiah 5:21
God is talking about our spiritual blindness. He is trying to tell us what we need to hear, but we don’t want to listen.
Spiritual blindness
I was blind to the fact that white grout was going to get dirty very quickly. I just didn’t want to hear about it. I thought I could manage by using two mop buckets.
God sees us just as we are, although we are often blinded to His reality. Many people say that God isn’t real. They ridicule those who believe in God, and demand scientific truth of His existence. They are blind to the fact that God is the creator of the universe and He is their creator. They are blind to the fact that their sin has separated them from God. They can’t see that God loves them and wants to be reconciled to them.
They may have heard about Jesus. They might even believe that He was a real person who lived and died. They might even believe that Jesus rose from the dead. But that’s just an historical fact that has no relevance to them in this world or the next:
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2 Corinthians 4:4
Jesus Christ came to bring light so we, spiritually blind, can know God. Because of Jesus, we can come into relationship with God:
For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:5-6
Why didn’t they tell me?
Sometimes I wonder why the woman in the tile shop and the tiler didn’t press the point about white grout. Why weren’t they more forceful in their warnings about dirt? Why did they let me make such a costly mistake? But, in all honesty, they did warn me. And ultimately the choice was mine to make.
You are the only one who can answer the Big Questions of life. I can’t force you to believe in God. This blog isn’t here to preach to you. It’s here to help you wrestle with your own answers to the big questions. God himself doesn’t force anyone to believe in Him. He gave us free choice.
Who am I? Who is God?
When we ask the big question, Who am I? we often just talk about the labels that we, and others, have used to define us. But, as a Christian, I am freed from human judgments, both mine and others. God has given me a completely new identity: I am a child of God!
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.
Galatians 3:26
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
John 1:12
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
1 John 3:1
It’s a free gift for everyone who believes!
So, in short, don’t be blind like I was. Not about grout, but about the Big Questions. As I said to someone yesterday: I don’t want you to die, and then wonder why I didn’t tell you. That’s why this blog is here.
Jesus died for everyone. But not everyone wants to believe. Not everyone thinks they are a sinner or need saving from their sin. Many think that there is no God. Or if God exists, they don’t need Him for anything. Some think that God is just there to be Santa Claus in the sky, pandering to their every wish. Many people blame God for all the wrong in the world. They can’t see that the cause of all the wrong is sin. And Jesus already paid the price for all sin:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
Prayer:
Dear God,
All too often I am spiritually blind. Many times, I just don’t want to hear from you. Please forgive me.
Often, I’m too busy looking after my own interests and feathering my own nest to be bothered thinking about the big questions of life. Please forgive me.
I often don’t see you in your amazing gifts of daily life. I take the sunrises and the stars and the rain and the fresh air and my warm bed and good food for granted. I think I’m entitled to the best of everything. In fact, I just want more and more. I even think that my time belongs to me and that I’m free to spend it however I please. Please forgive me.
I’m blind to my sinfulness. I think I’m OK without you. Remind me that it’s only because of you that I am OK. Remind me of your perfect love that continually draws me to your presence and a closer relationship with you.
Thank you for sending Jesus to pay the price for my sin, so that I can be called your child!
Help me to share this good news with others, so they too can know of your love for them.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
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