My Bucket List

Do you struggle with your eyesight?

Recently, I’ve experienced extensive eye strain and scheduled a visit with my optometrist. Was I having trouble seeing distance? No. Was I struggling to read? Not really. Then, she asked, what is the trouble?

I looked at the desktop where she was seated about two feet from me. “There!” I exclaimed. “I can’t make out anything on your giant computer screen.”

“Oh, with that prescription, you’ve no chance of reading this. Is that something you wanted to see?”

“Something I want to see? I want to see all the things. Everything. Yes! Doesn’t everyone?”

She shook her head. “You’d be surprised how many of my patients are content to settle for seeing very little.”

Actually, I wasn’t surprised. That’s true spiritually, too.

It’s no accident that the gospels record Jesus healing several different blind men with varying methods and results. I’ve always been struck by the blind man in Mark 8:22-25.

“And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.” ESV

When it comes to spiritual things, I often feel like this man did when Jesus first spit on his eyes. I see something but not as clearly as I believe Jesus wants me to see it. I want the second touch. I want to see all the things Jesus wants me to see.

Every time someone posts a video of a color-blind person receiving these new glasses that help them see color, I watch it over and over. Here’s one, if you’ve never seen any. (If you’re short on time, go to the 2:30 minute mark.) It’s incredibly moving and humbling to watch someone see clearly for the first time. They always weep. Those glasses are expensive, and many loved ones saved and sacrificed to help their loved one see all there is to see.

We frequently pray or sing for God to open our eyes. We ask Him to help us see as He sees. I don’t know that we always appreciate what we’re asking. To live with eyes wide-open is to live ready to be changed, ready to act, ready to turn to God with what we see and seek immediate direction.

Sometimes I hear people react to a comic or a tragic scene by remarking, “Wow, now I can’t un-see that.” We are often content to see less than there is to see because to see is to know and to know requires us to act or to admit we refuse to act.

We know if we witness a crime or a suspicious action, we’re responsible to report about it. We know if we see suffering, we’re called to act. If we see beauty and creation, we cannot deny the existence of God.  If we see our sin, we know we must repent. If we see another’s need that we can fill, we are called to sacrifice.

To see Jesus is to be changed toward life or walk away accepting death.

Much easier to live only seeing shadows and trees. To see the black-and-white of this world, but no more.

When people ask about my bucket list, I feel a little lame. I never created some great list of things I want to see before I die.

But when I was a child, I read the gospels and the book of Acts and immediately, I knew I wanted to always see Jesus, to see Him work, and to see the world as He sees. If I have a bucket list, that’s it. To see all the things of Jesus.

There are times, I close my eyes. We grow weary, like spiritual eye-strain. We face the temptation to resume blindness. By God’s grace, Jesus infuses us with courage to continue seeking full sight. To never settle for seeing less than all He’s created and all He’s doing.

What are you ready and willing to see today? Ask Jesus for that second touch – you’ll never look back.

My Bucket List https://t.co/0sKJyaIzGY what’s on yours? #seeallthethings #seeJesus #Jesus

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) October 30, 2018