He Is Of Age; Ask Him

But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.
And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;
but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.”
[John 9:18-21 NKJV]

The predominant themes in John 9 are belief (faith), seeing (understanding) and the nature of sin. The verses above reveal more about the Pharisees attitude to this healing of the blind man. Their belief was a construct, a fantasy, and had more to do with their own pride than seeking the truth of their faith.

‘Ask and you shall receive’. They were twice told by the blind man’s parents to ‘Ask him.’ When the answer was not what they wanted, the (formerly) blind man was cast out. We see a similar thing happening today in many areas of life. We all look for confirmation of what we already understand and believe, but we must constantly be on our guard against wrong teaching, or persuasive ideas that come from the world and not from The Lord. Jesus Christ is ‘of age’ and we can ask Him for His help; His clarity and life to overcome all difficulty.

In recent times there has been the worrying rise of a number of prominent people — leaders and outspoken men and women in their countries — who spout verifiable falsehoods and continue to promote such blatant lies until many come to believe them, and indeed will rally round their cause, against the evidence of their own eyes and experience. We must be ‘watchmen on the walls’.

Set up the standard on the walls of Babylon; make the guard strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes. For the LORD has both devised and done what He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.
[Jeremiah 51:12 NKJV]

One thing we must be clear about, is that our Lord remains in control of all things and we need not fear. The following passage (from ‘The Message’) makes clear that God will not strive with those who consistently refuse Him ...

The Anarchist's coming is all Satan's work. All his power and signs and miracles are fake, evil sleight of hand that plays to the gallery of those who hate the truth that could save them. And since they're so obsessed with evil, God rubs their noses in it—gives them what they want. Since they refuse to trust truth, they're banished to their chosen world of lies and illusions.
[2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 MSG]

It is the same today as it was 2000 years ago, and so we should not be surprised when we look around us and see unbelief and many lost in ‘lies and illusions’; or as the NKJV has it, taking ‘pleasure in unrighteousness.‘

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, help keep our eyes focussed on you, and let us not be drawn away by lies, fantasy and illusions. Keep us grounded in Your truth, watchmen against the troubles from Babylon, O Lord, in Jesus’ name we pray.

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Some of us are no good unless we are kept in the circumstances in which our convictions were formed, but God is constantly stirring up our nests so we may learn that a relationship with Christ is not altered in any circumstance.
Logic or a vivid past experience can never take the place of personal faith in a personal God.
It is easier to be true to a conviction formed in a vivid religious experience than to be true to Christ, because if I am true to Christ, my convictions will have to be altered.
[from ‘Jeremiah’]

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