THE EYES REVEAL THE HEART

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,
your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are
unhealthy, 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)

MEDITATION:
Have you ever heard someone say,
    “I could see the fear in his (or her) eyes”?
Or how about,
    “You can just see the meanness in his (or her) eyes”?
You may have heard someone say,
    “He (or she) looks tired, look at his (or her) eyes”.

When someone is hurting, their eyes can be filled with tears.
The eyes can reveal a lot about a person, can’t they? When
we observe someone’s eyes, we get a glimpse of their heart
and thoughts.

We can see fear, anger, tiredness, sadness, mischief, lack
of interest, compassion, determination, confusion, or any
number of other things revealed about the person through
their eyes.

Have you ever thought about what you might have seen in the
eyes of Jesus, when He walked on earth in the form of man?
Jesus genuinely loves and cares about others, so we might
imagine we would have seen a depth of compassion in His
eyes that we would never see in the eyes of others.

What about God’s eyes? What could we expect to see,
if we could look through His eyes? His Word tell us
He is constantly observing us all:
    The eyes of the Lord are everywhere,
    keeping watch on the wicked and the good.
    (Proverbs 15:3)

God looks at the eyes of people and can see what is in their hearts.
We are told that He hates seven things and at the top of the list
are eyes that are full of arrogant pride (haughty eyes):
    There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are
    detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands
    that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked
    schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false
    witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up
    conflict in the community.
    (Proverbs 6:16-19)

God observes the nations and reacts to what He sees:
    He rules forever by His power, His eyes watch the
    nations— let not the rebellious rise up against Him.
    (Psalm 66:7)

God watches the righteous and responds to their needs:
    The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
    and His ears are attentive to their cry;
    (Psalm 34:15)

God observes the sin in our lives:
    My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden
    from Me, nor is their sin concealed from My eyes.
    (Jeremiah 16:17)

God detects those who respect Him and His power:
    But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear
    Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love,
    (Psalm 33:18)

God looks for those who are doing good in His eyes:
    “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before
     You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion
     and have done what is good in Your eyes.” And
     Hezekiah wept bitterly.
     (Isaiah 38:3)

God humbles those with arrogant pride (probably so their eyes
will be opened to their need for Him, and His offer of salvation):
    You save the humble but bring low
    those whose eyes are haughty.
    (Psalm 18:27)

    So people will be brought low and everyone
    humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled.
    (Isaiah 5:15)

    The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and
    human pride brought low; the Lord alone will
    be exalted in that day.
    (Isaiah 2:11)

Whenever our life is full of sin, God takes His eyes off us,
until we feel remorse for our sins and ask for His forgiveness:
    When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide My
    eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I
    am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!
    (Isaiah 1:15)

In summary, God observes everyone
and examines their hearts and their motives:
    The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord is on
    His heavenly throne. He observes everyone on
    earth; His eyes examine them.
    (Psalm 11:4)

But, what about our own eyes? What do others see when
they look in our eyes? What should we allow to enter into
our eyes? We should keep our eyes on the Lord:
    I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With
    Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
    (Psalm 16:8)

    I lift up my eyes to You, to You
    who sit enthroned in heaven.
    (Psalm 123:1)

    But my eyes are fixed on You, Sovereign Lord; in
    You I take refuge—do not give me over to death.
    (Psalm 141:8)

We should ask God to help us focus our eyes in the right direction:
   Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law.
    (Psalm 119:18)

When our eyes are on Him, we can experience a joy that
radiates through our eyes (which can be a witness of our
faith to others):
    The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to
    the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant,
    giving light to the eyes.
    (Psalm 19:8)

……and God will provide for our needs:
    The eyes of all look to You, and You
    give them their food at the proper time.
    (Psalm 145:15)

We should look to God for help in times of weakness:
    “I cried like a swift or thrush, I moaned like
     a mourning dove. My eyes grew weak as I
     looked to the heavens. I am being threatened;
     Lord, come to my aid!”
     (Isaiah 38:14)

We are to look to God for our salvation:
    Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the
    earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like
    smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment
    and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation
    will last forever, my righteousness will never fail.
    (Isaiah 51:6)

Others should not detect any signs of arrogant pride in our eyes
(pride can cause many problems):
    Too much pride can result in sin. Haughty eyes
    and a proud heart— the unplowed field of the
    wicked—produce sin.
    (Proverbs 21:4)

We can struggle with separating ourselves from sin,
if we don’t genuinely keep our eye on the Lord.
    Those who are pure in their own eyes
    and yet are not cleansed of their filth;
    (Proverbs 30:12)

We can become desensitized to the sin in our lives and, when
that happens, our chances of being saved become less likely.
    In their own eyes they flatter themselves
    too much to detect or hate their sin.
    (Psalm 36:2)

We can entice others to sin.
    The Lord says, “The women of Zion are haughty,
    walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with
    their eyes, strutting along with swaying hips, with
    ornaments jingling on their ankles”.
    (Isaiah 3:16)

We are not to look to idols; when we do, we can
become blinded to our need for God’s salvation:
    They know nothing, they understand nothing;
    their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see,
    and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
    (Isaiah 44:18)

Godly wisdom is a great virtue to have, but we are told to
avoid looking at ourselves as wise in our own eyes. Those
with Godly wisdom use their eyes wisely; those without
Godly wisdom wander through life with no direction or
purpose. Both will die one day.
    The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool
    walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that
    the same fate overtakes them both.
    (Ecclesiastes 2:14)

Those with Godly wisdom will avoid sin
as much as possible and respect the Lord.
    Do not be wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord and shun evil.
    (Proverbs 3:7)

Wealth can cause some to miss out on Godly wisdom
(and possibly salvation as well); a poor person with Godly
wisdom can see how the rich are merely fooling themselves.
    The rich are wise in their own eyes; one who is
    poor and discerning sees how deluded they are.
    (Proverbs 28:11)

Do you see a person wise in their own eyes?
    There is more hope for a fool than for them.
    (Proverbs 26:12)

We should not allow our eyes to be attracted to alcohol
(others can detect it in our eyes and the problems we have):
    Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife?
    Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises?
    Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over
    wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
    (Proverbs 23:29-30)

In summary, we are to keep our eyes focused on the Lord
and His ways; we are not to be lured to look in other directions
for joy, help, and salvation:
    Let your eyes look straight ahead;
    fix your gaze directly before you.
    (Proverbs 4:25)

God has given everyone the same opportunity to use their eyes wisely:
    The poor and the oppressor have this in common:
    The Lord gives sight to the eyes of both.
    (Proverbs 29:13)

ACTION:
What do others see when they look into your eyes?
What overflows from your heart through your eyes?
Are your eyes focused where they should be?

Have you allowed the world to convince you that you
should be arrogantly proud of who you are, what you
own, what you know, who you know, what you can do,
and what you have accomplished?

Have you become wise in your own eyes,
or do you seek and pray for Godly wisdom?

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, help me to keep my eyes
on You. Make me aware of the areas where
my eyes are faltering. Change my heart so
when others look into my eyes, they will see
a glimpse of Your characteristics.”

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