Have you had your spiritual eyes checked lately?
In my Bible reading this morning I came upon Matthew 6:22, which reads:
The eye is the lamp of the body.
If 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.
So if the light within you is darkness--
how deep is that darkness!
Honestly, this passage stopped me dead, which is funny because if there's one book of the Bible I've read A LOT it's Matthew. Why? Because every time I had some wild idea I was going to read the whole Bible, I'd either start in Genesis or Matthew or both. (Aside: Josiah an I are currently using the 365 Day Plan on the YouVersion app, and we love it!).
So, I come upon a passage that should be familiar to me...and is...sorta. I think I've read these words before, but I failed to stop and seriously think about what they mean.
This particular passage in Matthew is sandwiched between two passages on money--don't store up your treasures on Earth but in heaven and no one can be a slave of two masters.
Interesting. That seems to have NOTHING to do with your eye being your lamp. Fantastic!
I did a little more digging, and apparently, this was something Jesus said a lot, in a few different contexts.
Luke 11:33-35 reads like this:
No one lights a lamp and puts it in the cellar or under a basket,
but on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see its light.
Your eye is the lamp of the body.
When your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light.
But when it is bad, your body is also full of darkness.
Take care then, that the light in you is not darkness.
If, therefore, your whole body is full of light,
with no part of it in darkness, it will be entirely illuminated,
as when a lamp shines it's light on you.
Once again, I think this may be a passage I've just skimmed over and taken for granted. Like "Oh right, this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. I get that. Moving on." But um...that's not what this says.
Let's break this down.
In the Luke passage, and elsewhere when Jesus mentions this in the NT, the greater context of what He's been talking about has been the evil times or the Pharisees...people choosing to walk in darkness even though the light was right in front of them.
See, there is a "this little light of mine" passage, but this isn't it. This is a perception passage. This is a passage about spiritual light and darkness.
This is important.
The Pharisees and many others were choosing to stay in darkness...to see only what they wanted to see. They were putting a basket over their heads, or burying their heads in the cellar--whichever visual you choose.
Jesus was telling them to see the light--His light.
You might look at this and say, "Those silly Pharisees. They couldn't see Jesus when He was right in front of them! I see Jesus. I know Jesus."
Take care then, that the light in you is not darkness.
Are you sure your light isn't darkness. Are you really seeing the light, or is your light actually darkness.
The Pharisees didn't think they were in darkness. They didn't think they were putting on a blindfold to good, to God. They thought they were right.
So if the light within you is darkness--
how deep is that darkness!
That was the phrase that really caught me in Matthew. It seems so contradictory. How can the light in you be darkness??
When you think it's light, but it's actually darkness...and how deep is that darkness!
I don't know about you, but I want to live in the light!
Dear Heavenly Father,
help us see Your glorious light.
If there is any area of our lives
where we've inadvertently put on blinders,
dear Lord, please rip them off.
The light may be painful and blinding at first,
but we don't want to live in the dark.
We want good eyes.
We want great eyes.
We want Your eyes.
Please help us Lord.
Amen.
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