Spiritual Cataracts

The great painter Claude Monet suffered with cataracts and this significantly affected the sharpness and colour of many of his paintings. Last year I had operations for cataracts in both eyes because the consultants said that I was only borderline capable of driving. What surprised me was that I didn’t realise this was affecting my vision so much, and that it had also affected my ability to see bright colours. What a blessing it was to be healed and see clearly!

Our eyes are windows through which we see (perceive) the world around us. If an ordinary window is dirty our ability to see the world through it is affected. The cloudier the window the less of the true world outside we are able to really see and understand. In these verses Jesus is warning us that if our eyes are not spiritually healthy then our innermost being (soul and spirit) is in darkness.

So what affects our ability to truly see? What gives us spiritual cataracts? Pride destroys good judgement and blinds us to our own failings. Jealousy can make us distrustful and suspicious of others. Much of what passes through the eyes (or our understanding) is not light. In Las Vegas there are huge and brilliant lights everywhere advertising a multitude of things, people, and events, to such an extent that you can’t see the stars on even the clearest night.

Let’s be careful what we see – what we allow our eyes to focus on and dwell on. It may look good, attractive, and alluring, but if it isn’t godly, what we see will darken our soul and affect our ability to see the truth. Jesus performed many amazing miracles publicly, yet the religious leaders didn’t really see them. Their spiritual sight was darkened and was bad. In Luke 11:34 the word ‘bad’ is actually ‘evil’ in the Greek.

I need to ask myself each day “what are you seeing?”. How is it going to affect my spiritual vision? Is it causing my soul to be enlightened or darkened? Am I seeing clearly, as God intended, or have I got spiritual cataracts and am not even aware of them. The good news is that Jesus can cleanse us, when we repent and turn to Him. He can drive the darkness from our spiritual sight, and bring clarity and brightness to us again.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, please show me how my spiritual sight has been affected by allowing my eyes to focus on the wrong things – what I watch, what I read, what I see and what I focus on. I repent of any pride and jealousy which has distorted my view of You, and the truth of what’s going on around me. Heal me and fill my innermost being with Your light. Amen.