Some people are willfully blind

Good morning, everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Sound doctrine, strong faith”

Our Bible verse for today: “For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.” Romans 1:20 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Some people are willfully blind”

God’s wrath is expressed towards anyone who ignores the obvious truths about Him and His ways. His wrath is also expressed towards those who would suppress that truth and hinder others from seeing it. To understand the point Paul is making here, we need to have a basic understanding regarding the difference between general and special revelation. The term general revelation refers to the way God reveals the truth about Himself to all human beings in general. This is the self-revelation of God to all human beings.

Special revelation refers to when God reveals Himself to certain individuals for a specific purpose, but not to everyone. Moses had an experience of special revelation at the burning bush. Abraham, Joseph, Jacob, Mary, Joseph the Carpenter, and many others had special revelation by means of dreams.

As Christians we experience a form of special revelation by means of the Holy Spirit living in our hearts and working in our lives. He gives us understanding of spiritual truths that can only come as the result of His work in our lives. That kind of revelation isn’t available to unbelievers – it is special and is reserved for those who have placed their faith in Christ.

In this passage here in Romans 1:18-20, Paul is referring to general revelation. His point is that God is so evident in the creation itself that all people are without excuse. Psalm 19:1 tells us that the heavens declare the glory of God. You can know just from the creation itself that there must be a Creator and that then should lead a person to seek Him.

And in Jeremiah 29:13 God assures us, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” This is why we hear so many testimonies from places like closed Muslim countries where there is little or no presentation of the gospel because it is so effectively suppressed, yet even there, people manage to come to faith in Jesus anyway, often through a vision in a dream.

The creation itself attests to the reality of God, and that general revelation will serve to draw an open heart to search for God. God will honor the heart that is truly searching for him.

Mankind’s problem has never been that God is not accessible or available. Mankind’s problem is that we are sinners by nature, rebels at heart. The history of the human race is that we ignore God, we reject His revelation, and we even make determined efforts to obscure His revelation and to lead others away from Him as well. This is willful ignorance. It is being willfully blind to the evidence that is all around you.

There’s more to be said about this and so we will return to it tomorrow. For now, I encourage you to open your eyes to God’s revelation which is all around you. Don’t be willfully blind.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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