Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
"What are you going to do with it?" is a question I find myself asking fairly often. My 5-year-old and 4-year-old will come and ask for some of the craziest things. I often want to know their intent before I give them a thing. I'm afraid of them using a gift poorly. The blind man in today's Gospel shows us a gift used well.
Upon encountering Jesus and asking for his sight, the blind man finds himself healed. As immediately as his healing took place he fixed his eyes on Jesus. The passage tells us that, "He immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God." This passage invites us to ponder two principles of receiving gifts from God well.
One, all gifts should turn our eyes back to the giver. The often-used analogy is that of a newly engaged couple. If the engagement ring is the true object of love and not the giver of the engagement ring, we would likely think that something is amiss in that relationship. Likewise, we should seek to ensure that God's gifts do not become stumbling blocks in our relationship, but instead, they should be objects that draw our affection toward God and lead us to glorify God, follow Jesus, and rely on the Spirit.
Two, How we respond to our gifts bears witness. The blind man could have simply taken the gift of his sight and gone back to begging. Worse yet, he began to use his new sight for irreputable affairs, such as stealing. In that case, then those who witnessed the healing would not have been brought to faith, but to doubt. They would have found Jesus' understanding of people wholly insufficient to this day. We bear the burden of making wise use of our gifts so that we may show the Lord's wisdom in providing for the others.
Today ponder Jesus' words to the blind man, "what would you have me do for you"? Explore your answers honestly and paying enough to ensure you have all that I need.
- Spencer Hargadon