I Want to See Jesus

Isn't this a beautiful bouquet of flowers? Can you imagine what it must be like to be blind and never see the beauty of things such as these beautiful flowers? The gift of sight is one of the most precious of all of God's gifts.

There is a story in the Bible of a man named Bartimaeus. He had never seen the beauty of a bouquet of flowers, because Bartimaeus was blind. One day as he sat begging beside the road, he heard the sound of a large crowd of people coming his way. He asked someone what was happening and they told him that Jesus was passing by.  Bartimaeus had heard of Jesus and about how he had healed many who were blind. He began to call out to Jesus. Others in the crowd tried to get Bartimaeus to be quiet, but he would not be silent.

Jesus heard the voice of Bartimaeus calling out to him and he stopped and asked, "What do you want me to do for you?"

"Teacher, I want to see!" said Bartimaeus.

"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." The Bible tells us that immediately, Bartimaeus received his sight.

That is a wonderful story, isn't it? Unfortunately, stories about the blind don't always end that way. There are many blind people who want to see, and yet they are never healed. Fanny Crosby was one of those people.

When Fanny was only six weeks old, she was left blind by an illness. Even though she was blind for the rest of her life, Fanny was never bitter or complaining. Instead she made the most of her life by using the other gifts that God had given her. She had a wonderful gift for writing poetry and during her lifetime, she wrote over 8000 poems. Some of her poems were set to music and many of them are still in our hymnals today.

One day a well-meaning minister said to Fanny, "I think it is a great pity that the Master did not give you sight when He showered so many other gifts upon you."

"Oh no!" Fanny replied. "If I could have only one request, it would be to be born blind."

"Why?" asked the surprised minister.

"Because," answered Fanny, "when I get to heaven, the first face that these blind eyes will ever see is the face of Jesus, my Savior."

Some, like Bartimaeus, receive the gift of sight. Some, like Fanny Crosby, are blind their entire life. One thing is certain, when we get to heaven, we will all see Jesus.

Dear Father, we thank you for the gift of sight, but more than that, we thank you that one day we will see you in heaven. Amen.