Two thousand years ago, a seemingly unlucky man in Israel was born completely blind. Everyone in town was certain that his sins, or maybe even his parents’ sins, had caused his blindness. Ostracized by his community, the blind man found his home on the streets and begged for money every day.

Imagine how he felt when Jesus, a carpenter he didn’t know, took a bit of mud, put it on his blind eyes, and said, “I am the Light of the world. Go to the neighborhood pool, wash this dirt off your face, and you’ll be able to see” (John 9:5-7, author’s paraphrase).

Full of doubt sprinkled with faith, and maybe a little bothered about the mud on his eyes, he scurried to the pool and washed his face. He opened his eyes and, for the first time, light shot through his pupils and triggered a number of optic nerves that projected an inverted image to his brain. His brain took the image, turned it right side up, and before he knew it, he was staring at his own reflection in the pool.

Clear as day, he saw the world. He saw himself. He saw the light.

We’re all in the same boat—blind as bats, every last one of us. And we would have stayed that way unless a man from Nazareth made a very bold claim: “Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Today, ask God to open your eyes in a new way. Ask to see the truth about yourself. Ask to see the truth about Him.