“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness.” (Matthew 6:22-23)
This year’s Kindred theme, Joining the Spirit on a Missional Journey, made me more sensitive to where I should focus my eyes. If eyes can be described as the window to our heart (in Eph 1:18, NIV), then we should pay more attention to where and what our eyes look at.
The Old Testament says the behavior of God’s people were not right in the eyes of the Lord. Many of us today make the same mistakes that the Israelites made. We don’t have Baal, Asherah, or other pagan gods, but we have other idols that can deceive, distract, and waste our time. For instance, our pursuit of wealth, self-centeredness, and other interests reveal a lot about who we are and what we value. Anything that displaces the Lord as our master is a form of idolatry (Exodus 20:3 “Thou shall have no other gods before me”). Money or personal desires are not evil, but how we respond to them can cause us to sin.
Scripture says if we guard our hearts by controlling what our eyes see, our bodies will be full of light. However, if we keep gazing at worldly things, our desire for such things will increase. Because I like to fish, many hours can be spent looking at fishing catalogs and websites. This always increases my desire to want new things, and if I am not careful, desiring such things will interfere with my life purpose by diverting my thoughts, actions, and where my limited resources are spent. This is one example of how I have become more aware of how my eyes can easily distract my heart desires and negatively affect my spiritual growth.
The direction where my eyes gravitate will generally direct where my heart and feet will go. So, if my eyes face worldly things (darkness), my heart and feet will follow. But if my eyes are focused on Jesus (Light), then my heart and feet would want to put Jesus and His Kingdom first. Keeping my eyes on Jesus helps me see clearly because guarding what my eyes see can change what my heart seeks in life.
It is my prayer that the Holy Spirit will help remind us to keep our eyes on Jesus as we journey toward a sanctified life.