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 unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
In a room full of light, we can see clearly where all of the entrances and exits are, and where all the obstacles are. We can see the beauty of the room and we can see all of its imperfections. The eye is the entrance to the mind and the heart. The healthy eye will be an eye that is full of light, seeing and perceiving things clearly, seeing things for what they are and for what they can be.
In order to fill our eyes with light we must walk in the light of Christ's example and His teachings of love over hate, mercy over revenge, humility over pride, forgiveness over punishment, reconciliation over dissension, peace over war. Once we are filled with light we choose eternal things (treasures of heaven) over temporal things (treasures of the earth).
Walking in darkness results in stumbling and falling. Walking in darkness results in a dark soul and eventually our loss of desire or inability to see the light. And soon we mistake the darkness for the light. 1 John 2: 9 says "Whoever says 'I am in the light,' while hating a brother or sister is still in the darkness."
As a result of living in darkness, temporal things become the things that we seek above all spiritual things and they become the gods that we worship. The bad eye cannot see the beauty of living in God's will. The bad eye sees as foolish a life of love, forgiveness and peacemaking. The bad eye knows no mercy. It is a worldly eye and only sees temporal treasures.
Years ago, I read a story about a farmer who sold his farm and wandered the world in search of riches. His search yielded nothing and his dreams of being wealthy did not come true. Finally, penniless and poor, he threw himself into the ocean off the coast of Spain and drowned himself. Meanwhile, the man who purchased the farmer's farm found great peace and joy in the beauty of his surroundings and he thanked God everyday for his great fortune.
Sometimes we cannot see God's blessings, even though they are right there in front of us.
Monday, we will study serving two masters.
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