Do Our Eyes Get in the Way?

"He who has hears to hear it, let him hear." (Matt. 11:15)

"The way that I see it is...." Have you heard those words before? Sometimes in a Sunday School class or Bible study, sometimes around the water cooler. It is a conversation about something in the Bible and everyone has an opinion about the subject.

We all look at things through the "Lens" or "Eyeglasses" of our own experiences, culture, and presuppositions. There are two different ways to read the Bible. You can read it and interpret it through the eyes of your predetermined ideas, experiences and cultural influences. In other words, you can come to the scripture and read it and tell it what it says.

Another way to read it is to try and take off the "Lens" of your own point of view and in a sense close your eyes. Listen. Let the Bible tell you what it says. Hear what God is saying, instead of telling God what He is saying. I am sure that we all want to do it this way, and most of us would deny that we do it the other way. But let me challenge you to pray and ask God to, at least in this sense, close your eyes and open your ears. Listen to God speak. It will bless your life.