ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 TUSITE MA’ASI 3, 2026

TEUTALONOME 11-13; SIONE 9:39-41

No blindness is more debilitating and life-shaping than spiritual blindness.

‘Oku ‘ikai ha kui ‘e faka’ofa taha mo liliu mo’ui, ka kui fakalaumalie.

I used to think that no one knew me better than I knew myself. I looked at myself through the carnival mirror of my self-righteousness. When approached about a sin, weakness, or failure, I would list evidence of what a righteous man I was. I was defensive and self-protective, clearly more concerned about the sin of others than my own. I didn't know I was blind, because spiritually blind people are blind to their blindness. Even when Luella confronted me, I felt misunderstood and misjudged. I was headed for disaster and didn't know it until God, by grace, gave me eyes to see.

Deuteronomy 1-30 records for us three sermons preached by Moses to prepare the children of Israel for what they would face in the promised land. In those sermons no warning is more important than what we read in Deuteronomy 11:16: "Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them." This is and has always been a great danger to any child of God living in this fallen world. As long as sin remains in the world and as long as it still lives within us, our hearts are susceptible to being deceived. As the father counsels his son in Proverbs 4:23: Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

This is the best advice a father can give a son. The heart is the center of our thoughts, emotions, and will; it is the control center of our personhood. Whatever controls our heart will then control our choices, words, and actions. This means that the body will only ever go where the heart has already gone. The most dangerous aspect of the operation of sin is its ability to deceive. Sin is a liar. What it tells us is never true. It paints what is ugly as beautiful. It tells us that what God says is morally wrong isn't so bad after all. Moses warns that an even greater danger than the presence of physical idols is a deceived heart that would cause you to serve them.

Notice how sin works in Deuteronomy 11:16. It deceives us into believing its lies, and because we believe these lies, we turn away from God. And because we turn away from God, we end up worshiping and serving false gods. Sin's deception always leads to idolatry of some kind. Sin woos us to surrender the control of our hearts to something other than God. Moses's warning has been preserved for us because the danger of spiritual blindness is as great today as it's ever been. But we remember that Jesus is the light of the world, who came to give sight to blind eyes. When touched by his convicting grace, we are blessed to see ourselves with accuracy, to turn from sin's lies, to resist sin's allure, and to run to God for protecting and empowering grace. Yes, sin's deception is a great danger, but God's grace is greater.