“Some people are like owls. The more light you shine on them, the less they see.”
I love western movies. Some of the most pithy and practical sayings I ever heard came from a western. I can’t remember which movie this line came from, but I’ve never forgotten it. It reminded me of what God said through the prophet in Isaiah 6:9: “Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.”
Seven hundred years later, the Apostle Paul quoted this verse while he was on trial (Acts 28:26). His crime? He was being accused of breaking the law of Moses with all its heavy burdens by preaching the message of salvation by grace through faith in the resurrection of Christ Jesus. His accusers were legalistic religious people who were convinced that they were doing God service by judging and condemning others. They were determined to shut him up or eliminate him.
Without forgetting that the owl in itself is a beautiful and perfect member of God’s creation, we can say that both Isaiah and Paul knew that religious people can be “like owls…The more light you shine on them, the less they see.”
Knowing that religious leaders can be so much like owls who cannot see well in the light, don’t let them stand between the Lord Jesus Christ and yourself. Know without a doubt that the Lord loves you, that He saves you simply by your heartfelt confession of His name, and that according that confession of faith, He does not condemn you!
Never let religious legalists make you feel ashamed of who you are.
“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame…for WHOSOEVER calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 6:9-13).
You are a “WHOSOEVER!”