What are You Looking At?

Tyler Thornton

Do you have good eyes? When was the last time you had to take an eye exam? I had great eyesight as a kid but for whatever reason I always felt extreme pressure going in for an exam and sitting in front of the Snellen chart test. You know the one, the vertical board with large letters on the top that get progressively smaller as you go down. I would sit there covering one eye at a time attempting to read the cluster of letters in the order I was told and try as hard as I could to do the whole test perfectly.

In Matthew 6 Jesus says, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light." In this passage Jesus describes our eyes as the vessel through which light is provided to the entire body. He was conducting an eye exam for His hearers, asking them to check the condition of their eyes because our eyes are the entrance to our hearts and minds and, as such, they should be given our full attention and care. When Jesus says our eyes are “good” this means that they not only see well, but also perceive well. Bad eyes lead to bad perception, but good eyes lead to a life of light. If we perceive goodness, that will radiate outward from within our hearts and minds.

C.S. Lewis said, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” Christ is not only what we fix our eyes on, but He changes the way we perceive everything in our world. As Christ followers we should be a people who have our eyes illuminated by the light of the world and allow that light to change the way we see and perceive the world that God has called us to serve. So ask yourself this week, “Am I seeing the world around me through the lens of the light of Jesus that fills me”?