Mark 8:23 English Standard Version (ESV) And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?”

Jesus knew that this spiritually blind man was about to see for the very first time. He speaks to the human condition of blindness in which the man now has sight but what does he see. Does he see a man or does he see God the Father?

In this telling tale from the gospel of Mark it is important to note the Jesus led the man away from the village and ministered to him alone. No one was there to see what Jesus did to anoint the man’s eyes. From a world view to spit in a man’s face is an insult but when this act comes from God it is a gracious gift. This is a personal matter, no one else will know.

Jesus knows all too well the issues confronting the spiritually blind. Being fully man He knows this as a man. Away from worldly influences the man feels no pressure to surrender to convention. He is free to choose what he now sees for the first time. Does he see Jesus according to all he has heard or now that his eyes are open, can he see God the Father?

Many will tell us about how to apply the bible to our daily lives but the first principle of spiritual life has to come from God the Father who created us with purpose. No one can tell us that purpose except God the Father.

John 5:30 English Standard Version (ESV) “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

Follow Jesus this way.

John 14:6-8 English Standard Version

⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.^[a] From now on you do know him and have seen him.” ⁸ Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

Footnotes ^[a] Or If you know me, you will know my Father also, or If you have known me, you will know my Father also

Yesterday the question was asked about how to apply the Word to our lives. Application has more than one meaning these days. The first was in the application of ointment which was called the anointing. Its purpose was to hide the human condition as it was defined as a sticky pitch like substance that was not easily removed.

The second application was a healing balm, applied to a wound which can be both physical and spiritual in form.

Jeremiah 8:22 English Standard Version (ESV) Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?

The third use of application is modern in context and is used in terms of easy access. We have bible apps that bring us a full range of scriptures, commentaries, definitions, usages, and connections to other passages that speak to a particular subject of interest.

At the center of this discussion we should look to how and why we apply the Word of God in our lives.

Jesus said it himself. To know Him is to know God the Father. His claim was that there is no other way to come to know the Father except through Jesus Himself.

That statement has caused many to turn a blind eye to the light.

Mark 8:23 English Standard Version (ESV) And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?”