Seeing

So, what does "seeing" mean?

Matthew 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

I am in Seattle right now after spending a week at a the SQL Server PASS 2008 conference, away from my family, and I have to admit that I have seen many things over the last few days. Not in the sense of "seeing" things but having things revealed to me in a deeper way. The conference that I attended was for work purposes and it was for the most part very good, especially from the technical perspective. However, it is also very revealing to me just how far those things are away from Christ. You may not understand that, especially if you are not having to do many things with the world, but I can honestly see why there is not even a looking to God in the midst of this world. I had a 1.2 mile walk to and from the conference every day and if you have never been to Seattle, it is a really unique city with a mix of the "earthy" crowd, and the posh crowd, all mixed in with people that are poverty stricken and living on the streets. And here I am going about to this conference, in the midst of people that are only concerned about the stock market and making their server more reliable (if you don't understand that consider yourself blessed). I'm not trying to bring about an attitude of humanism but rather trying to paint a picture of why people don't think they have a need for God. The irony is, without their realizing this, the people that I was "mingling" with, were the ones who are in need, they are the poor, the blind, the lame the halt, the beggars so to speak and yet, they think they are doing great, especially when they compare themselves to those they see on the street. Ultimately my friends, the enemy has done a really good job of blinding people. There was no shortage whatsoever with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life eminating from the midst of this "congregation". Not in rampant open "sin" or I would have left but it was evident in all the fruit of their lives.

If you are reading this you may be saying, brother I know these things, why are you stating them. That may be true but I don't know that we see the stark reality of it or there would be some different fruit in our lives over these things. Just consider Abraham when God was preparing to send destruction to Sodom. The pleading that went on between Abraham and God. Are we pleading like that or are we too blind to the fact that destruction is going to come. I'm not trying to get everyone all "Ra Ra'd" up to go evangelize the world, I know that can be as much a work of the flesh as anything but I am asking what the fruit is in our lives in relation to the FACT that God is going to unleash judgment on the world in the future and most likely the near future.

I guess ultimately, I am really just thinking about what a strong contrast there is between what went on in the New Testament to what is seen today in "Christianity". A verse to consider as follows;

1 John 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.


So, having said all this, the reason why I am able to write so freely in this is that I honestly feel like it is for me. These are all the questions that God has been asking me all week. ...and I share it with you to ask yourself.

I apologize, this was not well thought out, just an outpouring of the heart.

David