ABUNDANT LIFE VISION
SIGHT. Matthew 4:14-17
This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah: [15]“In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, Beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River, In Galilee where so many Gentiles live, [16]the people who sat in darkness Have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, A light has shined.” [17]From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” NLT.

Sight biblically refers to what can be seen, what we behold, the recovery of sight, and a vision. Oxford Languages defined sight as “the power of seeing” and “a thing that one sees or that can be seen”. Also, it goes further to give the verbal definition of sight, which is to “manage to see or observe (someone or something); catch an initial glimpse of” and “take aim by looking through the sights of a gun”. From the definitions given above, we can see that sight can be summarised into six points based on the dictionary definition and some definitions picked from the Bible. They summary is presented thus:
1. The ability to see.
2. What can be seen.
3. An observation of what is being seen.
4. Taking aim at something.
5. A vision.
6. Recovery of sight.
The ability of the eyes and the person with eyes to do the aforementioned is captured in the definition of sight.

Why is sight important? In the Yoruba culture, there is a saying that; “the eyes illuminates or gives light to the body”. The sight of a man is very important, there is a reason why the main thing a man pursues is called a vision. When Abraham and Lot separated, the Lord spoke to Abraham that he should look as far as he could see and all he could see was given to him as a promise. Genesis 13:14-17: After Lot had gone, the lord said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west. [15]I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession. [16]And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted! [17]Go and walk through the land in every direction, for I am giving it to you.” NLT. From this, we can see that there is a possibility of acquisition as long as one can see what is available for acquisition. This means it is only of one’s physical or inner eyes cannot see something that such thing becomes unachievable. The sight remains important to the point that Jesus established that one’s reality and actions are shaped by virtue of the information one gets into one’s mind through the eyes. Matthew 5:29.

Also, God in dealing with us put into account what our minds have captured and he goes a step further by giving us more than we can see. Ephesians 3:20: Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. NLT. As the sight of a man is important to God, so is his sight important to the devil. When the devil got a hold of Samson, he made sure that he removed his eyes in order to take away his vision from him. Judges 16:21: So the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They took him to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze chains and forced to grind grain in the prison. NLT. Do you realise that if Samson’s eyes had not been removed, when his hair began to grow, he would have escaped from the Philistines but since his eyes were gone, all he could ask for was for him to bring the temple down and kill himself alongside the Philistines.

Furthermore, God knows the importance of one’s sight and he knows that it must be working perfectly well for us to see the light of the gospel. After all, what is the essence of a light shining when the people cannot see it? Matthew 4:14-17: This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah: [15]“In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, Beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River, In Galilee where so many Gentiles live, [16]the people who sat in darkness Have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, A light has shined.” [17]From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” NLT. We can see that there is a connection between great light overcoming darkness when the gospel of repentance and the kingdom of heaven is being preached. Also, when the light of gospel shines, it shines to give sight to those who cannot see both spiritually and morally.
Therefore, the light of God through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ illuminates the spiritual eyes of men to receiving the gospel. This is very important because the devil has cast a veil on people’s minds to blind their eyes from seeing the gospel of Christ. This is an interesting take because when satan cannot blind one’s eyes, he can blind the person’s mind so that s/he is unable to see the light of the gospel. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4: If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. [4]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. NLT.

Therefore, the biggest work of the light of God is to open the eyes of men to the glory of the gospel of Christ because the gospel operates with a glorious light and when we come in contact with the light, the result is that we will be saved from sin by confessing Jesus Christ as our Lord and saviour. Acts of the Apostles 9:1-5: Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. [2]He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains. [3]As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. [4]He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” [5]“Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! NLT. Because of this, we Christians are to be the perfect representation of God by illuminating the world with the light of the gospel in order to bring people into the kingdom of heaven. We should not forget that we are the light of the world. Matthew 5:14-16.

On this note, if you are reading this and your eyes have been opened to receive Christ Jesus as your Lord and saviour, I urge you to do so now by saying this prayer wholeheartedly; Lord Jesus, I confess you as my Lord and saviour today, please save me and be my lord and bring me into your fold. Amen. If you have recited the prayer wholeheartedly, I congratulate you and I welcome you to the family of God. Make sure you join a bible believing church as you start your journey in Christ.

God bless you.