Daily Devotional: Day 120
Today’s message is a continuation of yesterday’s. We saw that the problem of a bad eye can be traced to the garden of Eden, where the serpent tempted Eve to look lustfully at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That look was so strong that it caused Eve to sin, followed by Adam. Soon after they sinned, the Bible says their eyes were opened, they realized they were naked, and fear gripped them upon hearing the voice of God (cf. Genesis 3:7-10). The first human sin occurred through lust of the eye. That should tell us something. Think about it: Jesus says the lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, if the enemy wants to destroy you, one effective way is to put out your lamp.
If you want to walk with God, it is necessary that you learn to discipline your eye and restrain it from lustful affections. You can’t allow your eye to lust after everything ‘nice’ that flashes across you, because not all nice-looking things glorify God. You should be aware of the difference and steer your eye away from whatever can lead you into sin: sin of envy, greed, idolatry, jealousy, fornication, adultery, pride, hate, rivalry, etc. If the eye is left to lust after the wrong things, darkness will take over the body. From that point on, your body becomes vulnerable to the enemy’s attack. Why? Because satan is attracted to darkness. In fact, he thrives in an environment of darkness.
In general, as Christians, we have underestimated the supernatural importance of our eyes and have given too much room for our eyes to flirt with the sinful pleasures of the world. The Bible calls this “the lust of the eye” (cf. 1 John 2:16), and says it is not from the Father, but from the world.
Listen to something else Jesus said about the eye, “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell” (Matthew 5:28-29, bold emphasis added). If a simple lustful look aimed at someone who isn’t your wife (or husband) means you have united yourself to the person and committed adultery with her/him, it tells you how powerful the eye is, and why we need to keep it in check. Jesus isn’t asking you to physically pull out your eyes. The point He is making is that you should discipline your eye and bring it under total submission to the law of God, for it is better, if necessary, to lose an eye and be saved than for you to lose your whole body to hell.
There is one man in the Bible who understood the wisdom of this teaching and went so far as to make a covenant with his eyes. His name is Job. In his own words, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman?” (Job 31:1, emphasis added). Job was not a ‘Christian.’ Nor did he experience the measure of New Covenant blessings we have today. Yet, he had the wisdom to make a covenant with his eyes. This tells us that we, too, can make a covenant with our eyes: to dwell only on things that glorify the Lord and to look away from things that can lead us to sin. This isn’t just about our relationship with people of the opposite sex. Lust of the eye covers everything within our field of vision; everything that attracts our eyes: the flashy vehicles, the big houses, the latest fashion in town, the latest gadgets, the latest phones, the glamor of entertainment and sports, the obsession with shopping, etc. Whatever you lust after, you become its slave.
From today, use your eyes to glorify God. Keep your eyes pure and you will enjoy the blessings of a light-filled body. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
Pray to the heavenly Father about today’s message.
For further study: Proverbs 4:1-27
Higher-Self Realities 