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Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. -Acts‬ ‭9‬:‭18‬ (NKJV)

I liked the 1999 movie “The Matrix,” as did millions worldwide, but it really spoke to me after being saved. The stark contrast of being in it and its shiny lies, versus out of it and seeing the ugly truth, really connected with me. Much of it seems to be thinly veiled allegory for the dimension of the spiritual experience to which many are blind.

The above verse describes Saul of Tarsus’ awakening. Saul was, in his eyes, doing everything in the Lord’s name, persecuting followers of Jesus. Jesus stopped him on the road to Damascus, and Saul was blinded. He would not be healed till he obeyed by going to Ananias in Damascus, who restored Saul’s sight with a touch. Saul then could see, and his life forever changed. He took on the name Paul (in Acts 13), and became a mighty, mighty ministerial force for the Lord.

That dramatic restoration of sight—with the enhancement of spiritual sight of God’s Truth—is something I and millions before me have experienced. And if you haven’t, or know someone who hasn’t, I encourage you (or that other person) to remember or re-watch “The Matrix” to get a hint of what you’re missing.

Just like key characters in “The Matrix,” I (and millions of others) have experienced:

  • Seeing something wasn’t quite right with the world, but not being able to put my finger on it.
  • Being unplugged. Like Mr. Anderson/Neo being unplugged, the vile, ugly, real world was revealed. It was information overload at first, partly because…
  • …I saw the depths of layers of reality that I couldn’t see before…and could see through what I thought was real or significant before I was saved.
  • The ability to plug back in and reenter the world, but with super-heightened awareness, and…
  • …the easy mistake of slipping into my old ways and losing sight of my enhanced awareness. When that happened, I would be at the world’s mercy once again.
  • Seeing people all around me who were still walking and living in the lie, completely unaware.
  • Seeing jaded people who were aware, but chose to live the lifestyle of unaware people. (Remember the betrayer in “The Matrix” who preferred to eat imaginary steak of the Matrix, than to live in the reality of the world?)
  • To see the rules and laws of the world at their distorted, myopic limits, and that…
  • …as conduits for God’s power, we could achieve superhuman accomplishments that the world could not explain.
  • The ability to see the real enemy: The leader of the world and his minions worldwide.
  • Constant downloads of more knowledge to combat the evil truths of the world.
  • The knowledge that the truth, once known, could not be ignored. There was warfare between two worlds, and I picked the side of truth…and would fight relentlessly for it.

The mission is clear: Wake as many up as you can, and help the jaded snap back to the truth. The Matrix is very real. We travel through a world of sleepwalkers. Let’s shine the light of truth on them and wake them up and fight for the truth.