Luke 11
The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. – Luke 11:34 NLT
How's the health or your eyes today? Do you have blurry vision? Are you seeing double? Do you have trouble seeing things far away or up close?
In Jesus analogy, a healthy eye is a a clear eye. Jesus uses the Greek word haplous and it means single, healthy, or whole. It is an eye free from double vision. It is not clouded by cataracts or any disease that would prevent the light on the outside reaching the inside. The issue in this verse seems to be one of vision. Do we see things like God sees them? Do we have His perspective or is it clouded. John Piper puts it this way: "How you see reality determines whether you are in the dark or not." Do we see things the way God sees things? Do we have a singular, focused vision or is it blurred by the things of this world?
It's interesting that this same phrase is used by Jesus over in Matthew 7, but it is sandwiched between two teachings on treasure and money. Jesus seems to be saying that our spiritual vision must be clear or we will view everything in this world wrongly. If we see as God does, then we will see everything on this earth as resources to use for His kingdom purposes, not for building up our own little kingdoms. We will see that our treasure lies in heaven, not on earth. If we see things as God does, we will not try to serve God and wealth. We will have a clear view of the role money plays in this life. We will not make it our god or our savior. It is simply a tool at our disposal for accomplishing God's plans.
When we have a "bad" eye or an unhealthy perspective on this world, we will be filled with darkness. We will fail to see clearly. To be filled with darkness is to be blind. It is interesting that one of the most common physical maladies that Jesus healed was that of blindness. He took people who were physically blind and restored their sight. He gave them the ability to see clearly for the first time in their lives. And one of the main accusations Jesus leveled against the Pharisees was that they were spiritually blind. They were like blind guides leading blind people. They were unable to see and would end up leading those under their care right into a ditch. They were so blind they could not recognize the Messiah standing right in front of them. They were blinded by jealousy, pride, arrogance, and greed. Jesus came to restore sight to the blind. He came to give us a new capacity to see clearly for the first time in our lives. But many of us still live in darkness, because we our eyes are not clear. They have been clouded by the philosophies and empty promises of this world.
But God has called us to a relationship with His Son. We are not to love the world or the things of the world. Our desire is to be for Christ and His kingdom. We are to have eyes for Christ. According to John Wesley, the believer's goal is "to do not his own will, but the will of Him that sent him. His one intention at all times and in all places is, not to please himself, but Him whom his soul loveth. He hath a single eye; and because his eye is single, his whole body is full of light. The whole is light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth enlighten the house. God reigns alone; all that is in the soul is holiness to the Lord."
So how's your vision today? Is it clear? Are your eyes healthy? Do you see things from God's perspective? If so, then you will be filled with light, and not darkness.
Father, thank You for the light of Christ that shines in my life. Open my eyes so that I might see things with an ever-increasing clarity and focus. I want to see life from your perspective and not my own. When I see things the way You do, then I will be filled with an awareness that makes everything around me clear. Amen.