The Sin of Unbelief Robs You Blind
I suppose we have all been in situations where we didn't even know what we didn't know. In other words, we were blind to our need for a change even though others around us may have recognized our plight.
Think of it this way. Imagine driving down the highway, and all the while gasoline is slowly leaking from underneath your car. You might be feeling carefree. But your car is headed toward "empty," and you are oblivious to the problem.
That is similar to what unbelief does to a human soul. People who don't believe in Jesus as Savior generally don't even have a clue that their sin of unbelief is actually robbing them blind!
If a thief breaks into your home while you are there, you are probably going to know it. But if he sneaks in while you are away, you will be unaware of it until it's too late. Unfortunately, this is what happens to multitudes of people all around the world. They are being robbed today in broad daylight, and they don't even know it. Their souls are literally being snatched from them even as they continue to assume everything is OK.
All sin is damaging to the soul, but the sin of unbelief is the worst. This sin blocks a person's entrance into the kingdom of God. Without belief in Christ as your Savior, there is no way to approach the Father and be welcomed by Him. Your sin blocks that path, and your unbelief keeps you from even seeing what you are missing. Your "spiritual eyes" are blind, which is the worst kind of blindness.
Physical blindness presents all sorts of challenges to a person. It prevents you from seeing what others are able to see. Likewise, spiritual blindness prevents you from seeing Jesus in the correct way. You think you see Him, but you really don't. Your ideas about Him will tend to be way off until you trust in Him as your Savior.
Once that new birth takes place, you begin to see things about Him that were impossible to see while you were still committing the sin of unbelief. You see His majesty and His love. You see His power and His forgiveness. You see it because you are now on the "inside." While you were on the outside, it didn't make any sense to you.
Jesus said, "Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." (John 3:19,20)
So in that sense, man chooses to remain blind. He doesn't want to see. He is afraid that both he and God will not like what is seen if man comes into the light. But he doesn't need to be afraid of approaching God. That is, if he knows the "password" so to speak.
He must know the One who can usher him into the Father's presence and place him on the "accepted" list. Only Jesus can do that for you and for me. While it is true that we are sinners, it is also true that Christ loves sinners, and He came here to save sinners.
You don't have to be afraid of bringing your sin to God. As long as you do so with your eyes on Jesus, you will be just fine. God will accept you. He will forgive you. He will welcome you into the family. But only through Jesus.
Do you see it? Do you see what Christ did on the cross to pay for your sins? Or is your blindness and your fear of being exposed as a sinner keeping you from trusting in the Savior? If that is where you find yourself today, you are being robbed blind. You just don't know it.
The beautiful hymn sums up what a person can honestly say when his spiritual eyes are opened: "Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see."
If your soul has been getting robbed, kick the robber out of your spiritual house. Invite Jesus to come inside and set things straight. Once your sins are forgiven through faith in Christ, you will never look at spiritual things the same way. All things will become new. (see 2 Cor. 5:17)
Does that sound like something you are interested in seeing with your own spiritual eyes?