The Precious Gift of Sight

Visually impaired people develop remarkable skills. I learned this fact from blind members of churches I served as pastor and from my experiences with a Christian fellowship for the blind. For example, Burt developed a remarkable memory. He knew the words to almost every song in our hymnal. He even knew their page numbers. And he sang in the choir. Every spring Burt was the first to remind us to move our clocks forward one hour, and every fall he was the first to remind us to move them back an hour.

Fanny Crosby (1820-1915), blind from birth, left us a rich legacy of gospel songs, including the all-time favorite, “Blessed Assurance.” Although she was blind, she brought light to the souls of many.

One day Jesus encountered a man who was blind from birth (John 9:1). His disciples ignorantly assumed the blindness was divine judgment (v. 2), but Jesus corrected this misconception and healed the blind man (v. 3-7).

Physical sight is indeed a precious gift, but spiritual sight is even more precious. Because Jesus cares, those who are spiritually blind—unable to perceive God’s truth and to walk in His ways—can receive spiritual sight and follow Jesus, the Light of the World. Jesus promised, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).