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The Scriptorium

Bad Eyes?

What you see is what you'll get. Matthew 6.22, 23

Matthew 6: The Sermon on the Mount: Seek the Kingdom (3)

Pray Psalm 101.1, 2.
I will sing of steadfast love and justice;
to you, O LORD, I will make music.
I will ponder the way that is blameless.
Oh when will you come to me?
I will walk with integrity of heart
within my house…

Sing Psalm 101.1, 2.
(Jesus I Come)
I will of lovingkindness now sing – praise to You, Lord! Praise to You, Lord!
Justice and mercy, Lord, let me bring – praise to You, holy Lord!
I will the blameless way ever heed; no worthless thing my eyes shall impede.
When will You come and care for my need? Praise to You, holy Lord!

Read Matthew 6.16-23; meditate on verses 22, 23.

Prepare.
1. How does Jesus refer to the eye in these verses?

2. How does what we look at – or contemplate or think about – affect our body?

Meditate.
The human being is a whole person, body and soul. The secular campaign – carried on relentlessly by schools from kindergarten to PhD – to deny any spiritual essence to the world is doomed to fail. People know they have souls. They know their souls can be made bad, filled with dark and disturbing notions and inclinations, and corrupted unto wickedness. They also know that their souls can be enlightened with joy, hope, and love, and that they can do good for others.

The eye of the body provides an entrance to the soul. It also symbolizes all the other ways that images, sounds, ideas, and dispositions enter our soul. What we look at and what we entertain in our minds and hearts will affect our entire body. We need to watch over our souls, so that what God has set in us for righteousness does not become corrupt and hijacked for evil; and watching over the soul involves watching what you, well, watch. What you read. What you view on the Internet, watch on TV, see in films. If we are always watching bad people doing duplicitous, self-seeking things; or goofy people doing ridiculous, self-denigrating things; or pragmatic people doing whatever they think they can get away with, this will affect us.

But if we set our eyes – and the eye of our heart (Eph. 1.15-23) – on seeing the beauty, goodness, and truth of the Lord (cf. Col. 3.1-3), then the light of Christ will shine in our soul, shaping our thoughts and affections and setting our values on the Rock of salvation, so that we will be more likely to do good works for the glory of God.

The righteousness that characterizes the Kingdom of God does not simply happen in us the longer we are believers in Jesus. We must guard our hearts; think with the mind of Christ; and look to the Law of God for our basic values and ethical choices (Matt. 5.17-19), and bask always in the light of the glory of Jesus’ face (2 Cor. 4.6).

Keep your eye healthy, and your soul will thrive as well, and lead your body into good works, rather than wickedness.

Reflect.
1. What’s involved in keeping your “eye” healthy?

2. How are our senses – sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell – connected to our soul? That is, how do they affect what we think about, desire, and value?

3. What are the consequences of failing to maintain healthy eyes?

For just as when the eyes are blinded, some of the ability of the other members is diminished, their light being quenched, so also when the mind is depraved, your life will be filled with countless evils. As therefore in the body it is our aim to keep the eye sound, so also it should be our aim to keep the mind sound in relation to the soul.
John Chrysostom (344-407), The Gospel of Matthew 203

Shine Your light into my soul, O Lord, so that today I will…

Pray Psalm 101.3-8.
Commit yourself throughout this day to seeing the Lord and following faithfully in the path of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit.

Sing Psalm 101.3-8.
Psalm 101.3-8 (Jesus I Come)
I will the works of wicked men scorn – praise to You, Lord! Praise to You, Lord!
They will not grip me, evening or morn: Praise to You, holy Lord!
Separate every sin from my heart; slanderers all from me shall depart.
I will not suffer pride in my heart: Praise to You, holy Lord!

Let me with saints and faithful ones dwell – praise to You, Lord! Praise to You, Lord!
He Who is just shall care for me well: Praise to You, holy Lord!
Naught of deceit or falsehood shall be ever allowed a place within me.
Daily let sin and wickedness flee: Praise to You, holy Lord!

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from
The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).

 

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

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