Open My Eyes

The weekend has come to an end let's just start this New week with these words of wisdom to help guide us through the rest of this week with Read: John 14:23–31 Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 21–22; John 14 The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things.—John 14:26 The first time I went to the gorgeous Chora Church in Istanbul, I was able to figure out some Bible stories from the Byzantine frescos and mosaics on the ceiling. But there was much I missed. The second time, however, I had a guide. He pointed to all the details I had previously missed, and suddenly everything made perfect sense! The first aisle, for instance, depicted the life of Jesus as recorded in the gospel of Luke. Sometimes when we read the Bible we understand the basic stories, but what about the connections—those details that weave Scripture into the one perfect story? We have Bible commentaries and study tools, yes, but we also need a guide—someone to open our eyes and help us see the wonders of God’s written revelation. Our guide is the Holy Spirit who teaches us “all things” (John 14:26). Paul wrote that He explains “spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words” (1 Corinthians 2:13). How wonderful to have the Author of the Book to show us the wonders of it! God has not only given us His written Word and His revelation but He also helps us to understand it and learn from it. So let us pray with the psalmist, saying, “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” (Psalm 119:18). —Keila Ochoa Dear Lord, as I read Your Word, open my eyes that I may discover the wonders of Your revelation. Study more at basics.christianuniversity.org/courses/SF105. We need God in order to understand Scripture. INSIGHT: Did you do connect-the-dot puzzles as a child? When Jesus spoke in John 14:23-31 about giving His Spirit to show His disciples all they needed to know, they couldn’t yet see the picture. What He said about love, obedience, and the Spirit who would help them put it all together were still just words. Imagine what it was like to be one of Jesus’s disciples for whom what He was saying was such a mystery and a puzzle on that Passover night. Then the Spirit came and began to reveal truth. Think about how the Spirit is now, through the Scriptures, connecting the dots for you. Mart DeHaan