The Eye
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. "But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:19-24
There is a story told of a man who lived in South Africa who had a little farm on which he was trying to produce crops. The soil was so very rocky and unproductive that he finally decided to go to a city and seek his fortune-he was going to try to find an easier way to make a living. After a number of years someone, who knew about little rocks and various things, came across this particular farm and found that the rocks, which the farmer had cursed and found of no value to him, were diamonds. The farmer walked off and deserted the little farm; however, it was the beginning of the great diamond mining industry of South Africa.
Whether the story is true or not, no one knows, but it is a very common story and illustrates wonderfully the fact that we have so many things of great value available to us. By taking them literally, as the farmer took the diamonds for rocks, one is not seeing their inner structure--their inner meaning. One then passes over much that is of great value to one's development of one's inner state-the development of a spiritual body. Now, outer life is really a parable of the inner state, and there are many of these little stories that relate to simple everyday incidents, or describe something that one doesn't see.
Well sandwiched between the command to lay up treasures in heaven and the warning that you can't serve God and money are the strange words about the eye being the lamp of the body. If the eye is good (literally: "single"), the whole body will be full of light. But if the eye is bad, the body will be full of darkness. In other words: How you see reality determines whether you are in the dark or not. The "eye" is the "window of the soul" whereby we covet or lust after this or that. The good eye sees God and His ways as the great Treasure in life, not money. The good eye sees that God is good and all things come from Him. The good eye is pure because God’s word is unchanging:
Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. Matthew 5:8
To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. Titus 1:15-16
"The iris of the human eye shrinks or enlarges the size of the pupil determining the amount of light let into the body. So, we can say that the iris of the eye represents the heart. One may have a softened heart susceptible to the Holy Spirit, or one may have a hardened heart, filled with darkness. We should have "a good eye" - wish the best for our neighbour - that he receives justice, that he lives a peaceful life, that he be blessed, ... , and not "an evil eye", wish the worse for our neighbour - find faults with him, wish for his fall. The good eye sees that love is the greatest gift of all. The Law of Love is what should be guiding our conduct in all things. Leland Earls in his book Healing for your Bruises put it very well:
The criterion for conduct which Paul sets before Christians is found in 1 Cor. 10:24, "Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being." He then proceeds to show in the verses following (25-31), that the conscience of the other person must be considered as well as one's own; not being in bondage to another's conscience, but acting IN LOVE for his own good. In every circumstance, the law of love demands that we consider how what we do may affect another's conscience, Paul reminds his readers in this regard that "knowledge puffs up, but love edifies (builds up)"(1 Cor. 8:1). He continues through the rest of the chapter to show that though each Christian has the right and liberty to act according to his enlightened understanding, not all Christians have the SAME KNOWLEDGE or enlightenment, and that our "liberty" to do certain things must not become a stumbling block to a brother(1 Cor. 8:9), for this would be a violation of the law of LOVE, which must always come FIRST in determining our actions. In every circumstance, my choice or conduct must not be determined by what I have a "right" to do, but by the love of my brother for whom Christ died (1 Cor. 8:11). A Christian does not demand his "rights", but has YIELDED his rights to the Lord and has chosen the path of the CROSS, which is the path of self-denial whenever that is necessary for his own spiritual welfare and that of others.
"Great Hatred" will blind our eyes, as well as "great iniquity" in our part. When "hatred" fills our heart, our reasoning power will be lost. Or when we breaks LORD's Laws and Commandments, and do not see the iniquities in ourself, we would be blinded too.
There are other things that may blind our eyes:
"You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. "You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice. "You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute. "If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. "If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, and you would refrain from helping it, you shall surely help him with it. "You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute. "Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked. "And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous. "Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt. Exodus 23:1-9
When evil people break LORD's Laws, they would usually offer us some "advantages", which may be in the form of money, or the life of our enemy, or ... in order that we may be deceived into believing that they are good people. But those who have a good eye do circulate a false report. They do not put their hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. They shall do not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall they testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice. They do not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute. They help their enemy and do go to him rather than evil They do not pervert the judgment of their poor in his dispute. They do keep themselves far from a false matter and do not kill the innocent and righteous. They do not oppress a stranger because God’s word true:
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. "And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
"Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 'for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 'I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 'When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 'Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
"And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
"Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 'for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 'I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'
"Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?'
"Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Matthew 25:31-46
Yes, God repays a man according to his work, and makes man to find a reward according to his way. (Job 34:11). He renders to each one according to his work. (Psalm 62:12). As a result those who did not minister to Jesus by not ministering to the hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life for God doesn’t lie though others do. Yet God’s word is unchanging:
"Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? "For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord GOD. "Therefore turn and live!" Ezekiel 18:31-32
"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. "Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. "I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. "And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations. Ezekiel 36:25-30
WALTER KAMBULOW
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