Seeing with the eyes of your heart

Jane Denniston March 22, 2019 0 0

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Ephesians 1: 15-23

15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, and for this reason 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Paul prays that “the eyes of our heart may be enlightened.” It’s a familiar phrase and so perhaps we have become blind to its peculiarity and so to the immense riches of the metaphor. Paul asks that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened so that we can better understand what Jesus has done for us. But if the eyes of our hearts are indeed enlightened, not only will we be more aware of the great hope to which we are each called, we will also see the hand of God in the creation around us, and particularly in other people. Enlightened hearts will enable us to love the unlovely, help the helpless and give hope to the hapless because we will see in the faces of strangers the eyes of Christ. 

Lord God, too often our hearts are cold;
barricaded against your love by selfishness,
fortified against the needs of others by our egocentricity.
We are blind to the evidence of your presence
in the unexpected,
sightless in the face of your saving work in the world.

Open the eyes of our hearts we pray,
that we might see what you see
and love what you love.
Amen.