Can You See the Light?

A few days ago, Hubby and I returned from a whirlwind tour of Israel, and I have to share a silly story with you from our first day out visiting biblical sites.

The very first place we visited was the ancient city of Beersheba (Tel Be’er Sheva). Here Abraham dug a well and planted a tamarisk tree (Genesis 21), Isaac lived and dug another well (Genesis 26), and Jacob grew up before moving away to find a wife (Genesis 28). Jacob also stopped in Beersheba many years later on his way to Egypt with his family to escape famine (Genesis 46).

I didn’t take many pictures in Beersheba, because I was taking it all in and didn’t even know what to capture yet! But here’s a picture of sun shining through the leaves of a tamarisk tree.

Now for my silly story.

Wandering in the Dark

Underneath the ruins of the town above sits a cistern built to hold floodwaters. Rain is scarce here, but occasional flooding from rains flowing down from other areas could provide enough water for the town to survive for a year.

Just think about how large that cistern could be, to hold that much water. It’s so large that it’s separated into different large “rooms” so the town above wouldn’t collapse down into it. Here’s a picture of a much smaller one I actually thought to take a picture of later in the day from Tel Arad.

I included friends in the picture to give an idea of the scale of these cisterns. Way bigger than what I had pictured in my mind before this trip, for sure!

Anyway, back to Beersheba. The cistern winds its way beneath the town quite a ways. I was picking my way through the dark underground tunnel, wondering why they hadn’t put more lights in for tourists to see where they’re going. I was gingerly feeling my way with my feet, hoping I didn’t end up landing on my chin.

And then it hit me.

I was still wearing my sunglasses. Underground.

As soon as I got them out of the way, it was easy to see where I was, where I was going, and what was around me!

Worldly Shades

Just as my sunglasses were blinding me in that underground cistern, we can be blind to the true Light of the World.

Jesus accused many religious people of being blind, even though their physical eyes were working perfectly. They were blind because the letter of the law obscured the heart behind it, and following man-made rules had become more important to them than embodying justice and mercy.

Paul described the blindness of unbelief in his letter to the church in Corinth:

Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT

We can be blinded to the light of truth by many different things which are not always as easy to remove as a pair of sunglasses!

Vision Restored

Throughout the Gospels we see Jesus restoring sight to the blind by removing whatever blocked their vision. He not only healed the physically blind, but also brought new sight to those who were willing to see spiritual truth (read Nicodemus’ change from John 3 and John 19).

Jesus’ heart hasn’t changed since then. The One who spoke light into darkness at the beginning of time itself still longs to bring light and vision to blind eyes and hearts!

Do you feel like you’re wandering around in the dark, waiting for someone to turn on the lights? I know Someone who can help with that! He loves you beyond understanding. You can talk to him right now about what you need, and trust that he will answer.

This has been another installment of the Light segment of my Creation series. Follow along for more!

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We’ve reached a new month, and that means a new free printable to thank you for reading to the end!

February is American Heart Month, and I’ve designed a weekly checklist to help support healthy heart habits: Move your body every day, and add fruits and vegetables to your meals. Making a plan ahead of time will increase your chances of reaching your goals!