Greetings my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I pray this word finds you well.
Lately Pastor Tony has been addressing our mentality and how it is linked to the condition of our heart. I am compelled to speak about the condition of our eyes. In the words of our true Teacher and Savior our Lord Jesus Christ:
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Matthew 6:22-23 NIV
Brothers and sisters, we must be vigilant on what we allow our eyes to look upon. It is due to the appetite of the eye that Eve was deceived.
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”
Genesis 3:6-7 NIV
We must guard the condition of our eyes, lest they become filled with planks and we fall into judging others.
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Matthew 7:1-5 NIV
We must repent and ask Christ to remove the planks from our eyes that He would give us eyes that see His creation as He does. If we are not careful, our eyes will become haughty and that my brothers and sisters is something that the LORD hates.
There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
Proverbs 6:16-19 NIV
Brothers and sisters haughtiness is a condition of pride and “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18 NIV
If we are not careful, we will end up like the pharisees instead of the tax collector.
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke 18:10-14 NIV
With haughty eyes, we will also end up to focused on the faults of others like in the spec parable but also we can end up with the attitude of Peter focused on John's walk after he was reinstated by the LORD Jesus Christ.
20Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”)
21When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”
22Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” 23Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”
John 21:20-23 NIV
Or the workers worried about the weeds.
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
Matthew 13:24-30 NIV
Our Lord explains this parable:
36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
Matthew 13:36-43 NIV
You see, my brothers and sisters, we are called to follow Christ, to look on others through the lens of which He looks at us. We must not look down on one another, but rather come to our father with humility and ask for His aid, to focus on Christ, asking Him to keep our eyes on the prize and not on each other's faults. Pray that the Holy Spirit would teach us to aid one another in this race and not use our gifts of discernment to judge and be critical and cynical, but loving and helpful. I have found it, dear brothers and sisters, that the moment my eyes are looking down at someone for faults or mistakes, it is best to take those thoughts captive and pray for them and myself that Christ may be glorified.
Blessings,
Pastor Dakota Swinton