Dear brothers & sisters in Christ,
Jesus said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, 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)
Our eyes are our window to the world. They provide us vision and the ability to process visual images. The eye is an organ that detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons. The eye is a complex optical system which collects light from the surrounding environment, regulates its intensity through a diaphragm, focuses it through an adjustable assembly of lenses to form an image, converts this image into a set of electrical signals, and transmits these signals to the brain. So the images we see with our eyes are sent to the brain for processing and our body responds with corresponding actions. Our eyes need light to be able to see and send signals to the brain.
In the Garden of Eden, the fall of man was caused by what Eve saw and did. It says, ‘when the serpent; more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made, said to the woman, “You will surely not die. For God knows that, when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.’ (Genesis 3: 1-7)
The Lord God had commanded the man,” You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” When Eve saw that the fruit of the forbidden tree was good for food (lust of the flesh) and pleasing to the eye (lust of the eyes) and also desirable for gaining wisdom (pride of life), she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ‘Lust’ is a strong desire or craving for something or a strong impulse to do something. By eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and thus sinned. They fell short of the glory of God. They fell short of God’s standard to live in fellowship with God in the Garden of Eden.
As children of God, redeemed by the blood of Jesus, no matter what we see with our eyes, our minds should be reminded of what God’s Word says regarding the same. If God’s Word forbids us to indulge in what we see and desire, it is sin and is labelled as ‘lusting’- a strong desire or impulse that causes us to go against laws, precepts, ordinances, regulations, commandments and boundaries which are all for our good. As Apostle Paul taught in his letter, we are free to do everything but everything is not beneficial for us and so we must keep away from things that are not constructive. (1 Corinthians 10:23)
When we indulge in acts that are not constructive, our mind gets polluted and a day will come when God will give us over to a depraved mind to do what ought not to be done. (Romans 1:28) God’s Word also says, ‘when tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me”. For God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.’ (James 1: 13-15)
The psalmist said, ‘Blessed is the man, who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.’ (Psalm 1:1-3) Let us meditate on God’s law and delight in the law of the Lord. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, for in Him was life, and that life was the light of men. (John 1:4) For He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) When our eyes are fixed on Jesus, we will see the light of life and our whole body will be full of light. May God help us all to be full of light and walk in the light!
EDITOR
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