"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 22-23).Jesus makes an extraordinary statement in the above passage. "the eye is the lamp of the body". the "eye" here is right spiritual wisdom or understanding. "right spiritual wisdom and understanding" gives light and understanding to the "body", the whole of your life.
"if your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light", He says. in other words, if your spiritual understanding is good, you will be right about everything else in your life. right spiritual understanding leads to right decisions and right judgment about every aspect of your life.
"but if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness". if you don't have a right spiritual understanding, or your spiritual understanding is flawed, "your whole body will be full of darkness". without spiritual understanding, you will not really understand anything else in life. in fact, you will be quite wrong about life in every way.
"if then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" if "the light", that which guides you in life, is actually ignorance and "darkness", then all our judgments and assessments and decisions will all be hopelessly off. if our very conscience is darkened and depraved, it is no wonder that we fall into sin without warning, as one stumbling in the darkness.
we need to pursue and attain "right spiritual understanding", the knowledge that comes from the truth, which comes only through faith in Jesus Christ. how many of us have made terrible decisions, gone badly in our conduct, messed up relationships, made serious errors in our finances and personal lives, because we have relied on worldly advice, personal ambition, our own experiences, our own feelings or instincts or followed the pattern of someone we admired or considered successful!
it's all "darkness" in the end if it is not based on "right spiritual understanding", the "knowledge that comes from the truth".
4 comments:
Thank you for a good posting!!
In order to have a right spiritual understanding, I really need to read God's words. I think that's the only way.
In the light of what Darla samonim wrote, I think having good eyes is truly key in not only understanding this passage but also in carrying out it's wise counsel. Jesus instructs to store up treasures in heaven and not on earth, to serve and be devoted to God and not money. However, Jesus doesn't give a "how to" lesson on these matters. As earthy beings we all know how to store up earthly treasures but how does anyone know how to store up treasures in heaven? Serving and being devoted to God seems straight forward enough but there seems to be a need for greater insight on this matter as well for who on earth hates or despises money?
There is wise counsel and awesome spiritual truths all throughout the Bible. However, without the help of the Holy Spirit, it's just a mystery to some and foolishness to others. Furthermore, without the help of the Holy Spirit, we cannot live by- carry out these words of Jesus Christ.
How is it that we can have good eyes?" How can we make treasures in heaven a reality? How do we love and serve only one Master? Again, per Darla samonim, "through the knowledge that comes from the truth, which comes only through faith in Jesus Christ".
I definitely agree with everyone that in order to live a life full of light we must put our faith in Jesus Christ. He is our only true source of light in such a dark world.
I really hope and pray that I may shine my light onto others. May I be an example of someone who is living a life that is joyful, thankful, and obedient to the Lord.
I'm sure we know plenty of people that have been living in darkness for a very long time. May we have the strength, courage, and compassion to reach out to those that are lost.
This is so true. Having good eyes (right spiritual understanding) is so detrimental in life. It is the foundation for ALL your decisions whether you know it or not. I notice the tremendous difference in the counsel I get from someone with 'good eyes' vs. someone with 'bad eyes.
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