Eyes Wide Open
I remember when my sister and I were young and had to walk home, crossing busy streets. Although she was the younger of the two of us, she was always watchful and extremely careful. More than once, she pulled me back to safety just in time to avoid an oncoming car. “Didn’t you see the car coming?” she would ask.
To see clearly can be either a blessing or a burden, depending on the consequences. In the Garden of Eden, there was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In His love, God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat from it. Yet the serpent tempted Eve, saying that if they did, their eyes would be opened and they would be like God.
As we know, they ate the fruit—and the first thing they saw was their own nakedness. They had been created good, but now they felt shame. With their eyes wide open, sin entered and took hold of their once-perfect lives. In that sense, not knowing good and evil had been a blessing; it meant living in harmony with a holy God.
However, there are times when our eyes should be open—and yet they are not. When that happens, we can fail to recognize what is right in front of us. This is what happened on the road to Emmaus after Jesus’ resurrection. Two men, filled with sorrow, were discussing recent events when Jesus Himself came near and walked with them. He asked why they were troubled, but they did not recognize Him. Their eyes were closed.
They explained everything that had happened, and Jesus responded by calling them slow to believe what the prophets had spoken. Then He began to explain the Scriptures, revealing what they said about the Messiah—about Himself. Still, they did not see. Only when He blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to them were their eyes opened. Imagine that moment of realization—they had been walking with Jesus all along and almost missed Him.
The Bible teaches that when hearts are hardened, ears are dull, and eyes are closed, we miss salvation and healing of the soul (Matthew 13:15). This is a dangerous condition, one with eternal consequences. Yet God also tells us that through Christ, our eyes can be enlightened so that we may know the hope of our calling, the riches of our inheritance, and His power at work within us (Ephesians 1:18).
That is what it truly means to have eyes wide open.
Ignorance is not bliss—it is the absence of awareness and wisdom. I am grateful my sister watched over me when I should have been looking out for her. These days, I am far more careful—not only when crossing streets, but in paying attention to the things that truly matter.
"The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know..." Ephesians 1:18
