We had scheduled a meeting with the cabinet maker for the house we were building a few years ago. I could not decide which of three scenarios to pick, so I meticulously arranged samples into groups: light wood stain cabinets with medium oak floors; medium mahogany-look cabinets with light hardwood floors; or dark stain cabinets with medium wood floors. I had paint chips, countertop samples and floor samples for each scenario which I laid out before him.
“Tell me which combination strikes you the best,” I said, as he glanced over my array of colors. He looked serious.
“I can’t tell you,” he said, in a quiet voice.
What? People don’t decorate in these combinations? Tile floor instead of hardwood? Granite or quartz countertops instead of laminate? “But you work with cabinets and flooring every day,” I prodded. “Couldn’t you just give me your opinion?” I asked, hopefully.
“No. I’m sorry I can’t.”
“That’s totally fine,” I assured him.
“It’s not that I can’t because I don’t want to.” He looked saddened. “I can’t because I can’t. I’m color blind.”
This true incident reminds me of a much more serious scene recorded in the book of Revelation that causes one to catch his breath. The Angel of the Lord is speaking to the church of Laodicea. “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold or hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because your are lukewarm – neither hot or cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”
This kind of blindness means to be spiritually blind so they cannot see the Light of the Gospel – namely, Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him.
The Laodiceans were a self-satisfied people, and because they were wealthy, they assumed they needed nothing. But they were spiritually impoverished. They were spiritually self-deluded, and blind to spiritual realities. And Jesus wanted to spit them out of His mouth.
Being color blind may be annoying or even embarrassing to a person who cannot distinguish colors, but it does not last forever. Being spiritually blind may not be recognized by the one who is spiritually blind, but its consequences do last forever.
Fortunately, Jesus provides healing eye salve to all who repent, to those who come out of spiritual blindness and see the Light. The proper response is to be zealous to move away from the dangerous, lukewarm state with eternal consequences toward the Light of the world with everlasting rewards. This biblical account may be applied as an allegory to individuals and nations as well. Can you think of such an individual or nation that is spiritually blind?
What if someone asked you, “Do you see the Light?” How would you answer?