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Written by Bryant Cornett.

The Opened Sight

Iced Cream at Great Wolf   From My Utmost for His Highest

I now send you, to open their eyes . . . that they may receive forgiveness of sins . . . — Acts 26

I can be kind of ditzy.  I’ve bought things, paid for them and then walked out of the store without them.  Especially with leftovers.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve left really great leftovers sitting, boxed up and ready to go, on the table in the restaurant.

That’s what Chambers is talking about here.  “The only sign that a person is saved is that he has received something from Jesus Christ.  . . .  [The majority of Christians’] eyes are open, but they have received nothing.”

The something and nothing that Chambers is addressing here is . . .

 . . . forgiveness of sins. Like me in the store or in a restaurant, the purchase has been consummated and the goods are fully paid, but the transaction is not complete because I haven’t accepted it. 

The 26th Chapter of Acts tells of Paul’s trial in front of Herod Agrippa, the archetype of the prodigal son who just never quite ran out of money.  These verses, set aside by Chambers long ago, are Jesus words to Paul (related to Herod Agrippa). 

There are three things I consider as I read this chapter:

  1. Am I leaving something behind that has been bought and paid for me?
  2. Looking back 2,000 years at how Paul was sent out, what does God have planned for me? Paul was in chains at this point, with no prospects for history, BUT GOD.
  3. What’s the BUT GOD in your life?  What are the myriad of excuses that keep us from doing that extremely small thing—accepting the gift, striking the rock, putting down the television, showing up . . . What is going wrong right now that you can end with a BUT GOD?

I’ve gotten a lot from the exercise of writing down every single problem, barrier, issue that I have on paper.  There, on paper, it turns what feels like an unscaleable wall into a list.  Then, at the end, write these two words:  BUT GOD. 

Every time those words appear in the Bible (all 51 of them) it represents a pivot point—a point at which God steps in and rights a wrong.  Pray to accept something.  Pray to leave nothing. And pray for a BUT GOD in your life.

I love you. 


#thegreatcefuldance

My Utmost for His Highest, Herod Agrippa, But God, Acts 26, #thegreatcefuldance