Be Careful Little Eyes :: Deeper Devotion

Matthew 6:22, 23

“The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear, 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!”

“Be careful little eyes what you see. For the Father up above is looking down in love, so be careful little eyes what you see.” I can still remember singing the words to this song as a child at Vacation Bible School. It seems that from a young age I was taught to be careful of what I allowed my eyes to see. I was brought up believing that what came out of my mind was a direct result of that I allowed into my mind. This truth became evident as I grew older and the world around me began to educate me on subjects I was once unfamiliar with. As a young boy, nightmares presented themselves after watching movies I was now “old enough to handle.” As a teenager, ungodly thoughts constantly plagued my mind. These thoughts were introduced to me by my friends, the television, and movies. It seemed the older I became, the wider the world grew, and the larger the world, the more dangerous the effects of “sightseeing.”

Matthew records Jesus’ own instructions on this matter. The first thing that I noticed was the fact that Christ never made a distinction in age. He simply said, “If therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.” Jesus did not come up with the rating system for the movies you love so dearly. Only a fallen world could create a system that permits the amount of sin you can view to increase with your age. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that any eye set on that which is evil leads to a darkened life. The simple fact is that Satan has deceived us when we selfishly hold on to that which will only harm us. Deceit is the adversary’s strongest hold in a Christian’s life. Few people give him the credit he deserves when it comes to deception. If Satan’s only way to take our focus off of the Lord was through pain and suffering he would be fighting a loosing battle. He knows, however, that sin can be quite pleasurable if presented in the correct manner. Anything that directs your attention away from the Lord darkens your soul. Anything that produces unholy feelings, thoughts, or actions should be a red flag to the child of God. It should be a red flag that designates, not the presence of questionable entertainment in your life, but the presence of the evil one himself, in an attempt to derail you from your walk with the Lord.

Philippians 4:8 say, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let you mind dwell on these things.” This verse should be every Christian’s standard in which they evaluate everything they do. Matthew says that if your eye is “clear” (or good) your whole body will be full of light. On the other hand, if your eye is bad (some versions say evil) your whole body will be full of darkness. Christ came to give us life, and not only life, but life more abundantly (John 10:10). Romans 8:6 says, “For the mind set on the flesh [unholy thoughts, objects, infatuations] is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”

Glenn Ansley

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