“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.”
-Matthew 6: 22-23
Jesus’ teaching was nothing if not practical. Your hand offends you? Don’t mess with it; off with it. (Matthew 5:30) Invited to a feast? Great. But take the lower seat so you don’t look like an idiot when you’re booted off the reserved one. (Luke 14:8) Got a problem with a close friend or brother? Skip religious activities and go make it right. (Matthew 5:24) God incarnate got right to the point when He spoke. (Memo to all preachers and teachers: for your sake and ours, please go thou and do likewise.)
So it’s no surprise He had something useful to say about focus, and it’s influence on our thoughts, decisions and behavior. Because when He noted that we’re filled with light or darkness largely because of what we’re gazing on, He gave us a potent tool to use throughout the day. We are, He said, filled with what we focus on. That alone can determine how godly or ungodly, fruitful or flakey, joyful or miserable we’re going to be today. What you concentrate on can and probably will make or break everything.
I think we all know this, but often neglect its importance, treating the “eye/light” principle as a secondary one. Sort of like what we – well, I, anyway, and perhaps you – do when we flop down in front of the tv and start channel surfing. We’re relaxed and up for any number of things that may interest us – a thriller, the news, Law and Order, a concert – and where we land probably isn’t determined so much by “How will this affect me?” as by “Does this look interesting?” So apart from being cautious about anything rated PG-13 or higher, I don’t much care about the show’s impact as long as I find it entertaining.
Maybe that’s not so smart. A murder mystery isn’t the best thing to go asleep on, nor is the late news for that matter, something inspiring more nightmares in my mind than virtually anything Stephen King comes up with. What I select with the remote is going to impact my mood, my spirit, my mind, so a dark show yields a dark emotional and mental landscape. That’s pretty basic stuff.
But so is the fact that what I choose to turn my thoughts towards, throughout the day, has the same if not greater impact. Just as my cable service offers a bewildering array of choices, so does my mind, as do my eyes. I can select, with a “click” decision, to think about or look upon thousands of things and images. I can dredge up old memories, fantasize, worry, or think on what’s “pure, lovely and of good report.” (Philippians 4:8) I can rest my gaze on images beautiful or gross, erotic or wholesome. The remote’s in my head; the decision’s mine. And how I decide will have a lot to do with my answer when, at the end of the day, I ask myself if it was a good one.
If the answer’s yes, I’ll bet you the farm it’s because, among the thousands of channels I could select, I chose the Him network today. Because when I think of Him, and who He is, and how He’s treated me, and what He’s done and made ready for me, it changes everything. Obviously it doesn’t solve the earthly challenges I’m commissioned to face and deal with, but good grief, how it changes the way I approach those challenges! “Looking unto Jesus”, the author of Hebrews commented, “the author and finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2) The Greek word used here for “looking” appears only once in the New Testament, and means literally “to turn the eyes away from other things and fix them on something.” Fixed, the way Peter must have fixed his gaze on the Lord when Jesus said “Step out of the boat and walk on water with Me.” Looking at Him, while remembering all that the bible tells us of Him, fills us with light and indescribable levels of strength.
I wish that strength for all of us today while we strive not only to keep it clean, but to keep it abundant as well. It’s power coming not so much from human might as from the right focus, the smart anchoring of our thoughts on what brings body, soul and spirit alive and vibrant.
And in that light, everything else does, for sure, fade. One of my favorite choruses from decades ago promises it, and I’ve found it unfailingly true:
“Turn your eyes up Jesus, look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.”
-Helen Howarth Lemmel
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