“Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.” (Luke 11:34–36, NIV84)
Some great theologians and philosophers have made a distinction between seeing “with” and “through” our eyes. What they mean is, if we see “with” our eyes, then our eyes are no different from a pane of glass. Everything on the other side of the glass comes directly to our mind, heart, and soul; but if we see “through” our eyes, then there is an implied filter that interprets what’s on the other side. If we see through our eyes, we are forced to be discerning. We understand that our eyes are simply conduits of images and information. Our eyes need to filter everything they see with the truths of God’s Word. We naturally protect our mind, heart, and soul when we choose to see through our eyes.
Jesus tells us that our eyes are the lamp of our body. If our eyes are bad (seeing with our eyes), then our bodies will be filled with darkness. Our hearts and souls will be flooded with images and information that only produce confusion and pain. But if our eyes are good (seeing through our eyes), then our hearts, minds, and souls will be protected from the flood of damaging images and information. God’s Word will filter out the bad and the ugly and our bodies will be filled with light.
May the Light of Christ shine upon us and through us. May we daily choose to see the world around us “through” the truths of God’s Word.
Peace!
Pastor Tom
www.firmlyrooted.church