“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!”
Matthew 6:22-23 HCSB
“I will not set anything worthless before my eyes. I hate the practice of transgression; it will not cling to me.”
Psalm 101:3 HCSB
This week, I noticed that my eyelid was tender and swollen. I asked my husband if he noticed anything. One side of my eye was bright red!
As the redness increased, we went to urgent care. Not pink eye. It wasn’t anything they had seen before. They sent me home with an antibiotic cream and the “prescription” to follow up with an ophthalmologist.
The next morning, we met with the ophthalmologist who gave me the correct diagnosis: Episcleritis. It’s not known why people get it, but it occurs in people of all ages. The deeper veins in the eye become inflamed, causing the redness. Ten days of steroid drops should make my eye as good as new.
This experience has made me recognize all I would miss if I couldn’t see. Being physically blind would be difficult, but being spiritually blind would be much worse. Our physical eyes help us navigate in this world, but our spiritual eyes help us see God’s plans as a guide for our path.
What makes our spiritual eyes dark? It’s looking at the wrong things, eyeing the wrong path. Matthew 6:22 (HCSB) “The eye is the lamp of the body…” is right in between “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” and “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” How are these related? Looking at money or other distractions makes our eyes dark to the spiritual things—we can’t see both the things of this world and God.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank You for being the Master Physician. Please help us to keep our eyes as healthy as possible by choosing to follow You and Your plan for our lives. When we’re in the dark places, help us to see Your light and share it with others. In Christ’s name, Amen.
Journal: How is your eye health? In what ways could you focus more on the light of God?
Photo by Caju Gomes on Unsplash
Porch Chair Prayers 