Ideas are very powerful. Nothing in all creation was created without first starting out as an idea. Ideas are invisible, they are things that happen in your mind. The faith and belief of an idea is what causes it to be manifested in the visible. The source of the idea however is what determines whether the actions we take are beneficial or destructive.
In Acts 26 Paul recounts his first encounter with Jesus to King Agrippa while on trial. Jesus said to Paul
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.”
Jesus said to Paul, “I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.”
The goal of Jesus sending Paul is to cause people to turn from the power of Satan to the power of God where they become transformed and conformed to the image of Jesus. The power of Satan engulfs people in darkness so that can’t see. When Jesus says Paul will open their eyes, we are not talking about physical sight. We are talking about spiritual sight and about the function of the heart. In the heart is where our beliefs, habits and what we deem to be true and false reside. What we believe determines how we perceive life. Our beliefs make up the lenses in which we see ourselves, the world, and our situations and circumstances through.
Jesus says to Paul, you will tell the people what you have seen and what I will show you and it will open their eyes so they can see. These ideas, and truths that Paul shares gives us access to things that in the past we did not have access to. Have you ever believed something and then come to find out you were wrong? How did you first come to believe what you believed? It started out as an idea, or a conclusion made from knowledge and or experience. How did you come to find out your conclusion was wrong? You learned the truth. But it wasn’t until you heard/learned the truth that your belief changed.
People are living in darkness, believing they are stuck in whatever situation and circumstance they find themselves in. All they need is a lightbulb to show them a path to freedom that they currently can not see. The light of the world shares ideas with people in the dark that create hope, purpose, joy, restoration, reconciliation and meaning for life. All it takes is an idea planted like a seed, cultivated to maturity to set people free.
Go therefore and plant some seeds of hope and a good future and watch as people open their eyes and begin to see things they could not see before, until you showed up.