Clear Eyes for True Living
Yesterday I went to the eye doctor. I scratched my eye a while back and had been putting off going as long as possible. But this week the pain and blurred vision finally became too much. While sitting in the waiting room, I had two reflections: one was the observation that the waiting room was full of old people, then it hit me that I was there too (but I’m not old); the second was realizing the importance of a clear eye (especially if a big part of your job is to read!) If the eye is cloudy, it’s impossible to fully experience reality. A cloudy eye leads to an inaccurate view of one’s surroundings.
In both cases I had been self-deceived. In the first case, I tried to tell myself I wasn’t old but I was ignoring the evidence (ok maybe not old-old, as I was on the younger end of those in the room). In the second case, I made the jump to the greater spiritual reality of needing clear vision to avoid self-deception. Jesus says in Matthew 6:22-23, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
The eye represents the lens or filter through which we take in information about reality, the way we process truth. If your truth filter is off or “bad”, then you will not be able to see truth. In fact, Isaiah says there are those whose spiritual eyes are so cloudy they “call evil good and good evil.” Their moral compass has completely flipped!
How do we keep the eye clear? Part of healing my scratched eye involves some high powered eye drops. To bring clarity to the eye of the heart, we apply the soothing ointment of God’s Word. And not just occasionally. My prescription requires dropping in some fluid almost by the hour. It’s a steady application of healing drops. The more you apply God’s Word to your heart, the more clarity it brings. Be generous with his Word!Â
Valley View is a church full of Bible-believing followers of Jesus Christ. Our hope is to see the Gospel spread throughout the South End of Louisville, reaching the many thousands of people who have never met Jesus. Doing this well starts by depending daily on Christ and walking by the Holy Spirit. The more we apply the clarifying power of His Word to our hearts, the more we will see with clarity! That’s why we are studying Proverbs as a church right now, seeking to bring Ancient Wisdom to a Modern Age and to bring clarity to our thinking and living in many areas, like friendships and marriage.
Photo by David Travis on Unsplash