Cataracts
“Abide in Me, and I in you” (John 15:4).
Small steps of faith keep us close to God. Small steps of disobedience take us away from God. I remember at one of our young couples weekends talking with one of them about the busyness of life. They explained how difficult it was sometimes to find time for themselves. We talked about how important it is to pause and reflect on the direction our lives are taking and to assess things together in the Lord’s presence. We have to make time. Cataracts rarely appear overnight. They gradually develop. It is the same with our relationships. They can fail because distance gradually replaces nearness. And our relationship with the Lord can suffer in the same way and we lose what is most precious and most powerful.
The Ephesian church was so blessed. Paul writes with joy in his heart of their spiritual progress: “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you” (Ephesians 1:15-16). In the next chapter he speaks of their nearness to God through the work of Christ (v. 13). In Acts 20 he prepares the elders of the church at Ephesus for coming spiritual dangers. Never was a church so well cared for as the church at Ephesus. In Revelation 2 the Lord commends them still for their work, patience and carefulness, but then has to say, “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love” (Revelation 2:4).Nearness had been replaced by distance. Service is never a replacement for communion. True service is the result of fellowship with Christ. The Lord gave everything to bring us near to Himself, to know His love, to abide in it and have fruitful lives. The parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15 teaches us that God does not move away from us but we move away from God. This problem was not only seen in the younger son who went into a far country, but it was also true of the older son who never left his father’s house.
So how do we prevent things coming into our lives which blur our vision of the glory of Christ and His love for us? During lockdown I started to begin each day looking up to God with a simple prayer that He would give me an impression of the wonder of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The objectives of this prayer are that I would
– have fellowship with the Father, who said, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” (Luke 9:35)
– have fellowship with the Spirit, whose ministry is to glorify the Son in our hearts (John 16:14), and
– have fellowship with the Saviour, who said, “Abide in me and I in you.”
I believe this and similar prayers keep us in the love and grace of God, and protect us from the things which would distance us from Him.
The Lord says in John 15, “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (v. 5). The Lord’s presence takes the clouds away from our eyes, and in seeing Him clearly we see everything else in our lives clearly. The Father undertakes the work of Divine Vinedresser, ensuring we become like the Saviour. And the Holy Spirit empowers us to follow Christ in energetic, joyful and sacrificial service.
