“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, 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 [NIV]
Much of what stimulates us comes into our brain through the eyes. If our eyes are in good order and we cast them on good things, our body will be full of light. If we are tempted to feast on bad things, we may cast a dark shadow over the whole body. Think of the images used on TV and in magazines to stimulate the senses, and encourage us to spend our money on material things.
It is the eye which has the biggest influence when we are tempted. Consider the following examples from the bible:
- Eve found the forbidden fruit ‘pleasing to the eye’ before eating it (Genesis 2)
- David saw Bathsheba bathing, and hatched his adultery plan (2 Samuel 11)
- Jesus was tempted by the splendour of the world – but resisted (Matthew 4)
Does this mean the eye is always evil? – not at all. In the body of the church it is important to have eyes capable of observing what is going on in the world and the church. Is your vision clear and without defect? A church without clear vision and discernment will lack direction, but not everyone is in the role of visionary:
And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 1 Cor. 12: 16-20 [NIV]
Lord, let our eyes dwell on what you would have us see. Keep our bodies full of light. Amen.
Dave MacLellan
(originally published in 2005)
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