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/her eyes”?
Or how about,
“You can just see the meanness in his/her eyes”?
You may have heard someone say,
“He/she looks tired, look at his/her eyes”.
When someone is hurting, their eyes can be filled with tears.
When someone has peace
and joy in their lives, it shows in their eyes.
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 I would 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 men 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.
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)
He 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)
He 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)
He 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)
He 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)
He 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)
He humbles those with arrogant pride (probably so that their
eyes will be opened to their need for Him and His offer of salvation).
Pride and arrogance can cause us to have a
distorted view of what is holy and right in the eyes of God.
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 of 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 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 into our eyes?
What should we allow to enter through 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 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 arrogant pride in our eyes
(pride can be the root cause of 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.
Those who are pure in their own eyes and yet
are not cleansed of their filth; (Proverbs 30:12)
We can be desensitized to the sin in our lives;
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,
and 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, 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?
Has egotistical pride caused you to question
what God considers unholy and unrighteous?
God gives us an internal awareness of the things that please
and displease Him, but Satan will encourage us to justify
our words and actions, even when we know they are wrong.
If we look in the scriptures to find justification for the
things we do, then the Holy Spirit is probably whispering
to us (and warning us) that God does not approve.
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 that others will see a glimpse of Your
characteristics when they look into my eyes.”
BREAD FOR BELIEVERS 
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