Seeing someone through the eyes of God

ACTS 9: 13-16

Oscar Wilde once said “ Every saint has a past and every sinner a future”. How many times have we come across stories of people who are doing good work now , but still being judged and condemned by the society  for their past behaviour or actions.  Alexander Pope said “ To err is human, to forgive divine”. The human race is such that we are quick to judge and  slow to forgive. But our God is a God of great compassion and love who changes and moulds people for His glory. He doesn’t look at the past but instead He chooses to transform them to be instruments of blessing for all.

The Lord appeared to Ananias, a disciple in Damascus in a vision and told him to go lay hands on Saul Of Tarsus, to help him regain his sight. Saul had lost his sight after he had encountered the Lord on the way to Damascus. But Ananias replied “ Lord I have heard from many sources, what evil he has done to your people in Jerusalem and he has authority to imprison all who call upon your name”. But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! for this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles,  their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." Then Ananias meets Saul, lays hands on him and Saul regains his sight and is baptised.

What a glorious turnaround in the lifestory of Saul of Damascus. But friends Ananias initial reaction to God , when told to go heal Saul, is a telling reflection of  how we react when presented with a chance to change someones course of life down in the doldrums. When we look through the eyes of God, just like Ananias did , we realise the great plans God has for his children whom he made in his very own image. Then we no longer condemn them for their past but we accept and forgive them in totality so that they become great channels of blessing for the kingdom at large. This is how we gracefully lead them to the glorious future in their walk with Christ. We were created to be in the image of Christ and to exhibit his unending love and compassion for people like Saul of Tarsus..

Today,lets examine our hearts. Have we seen someone through the eyes of God?  

Paul Samuel

Paul is serving as the Worship Coordinator of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at musicbuff99@gmail.com