What Type of Eyes Do YOU Have?

Matthew 6:22-23: "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore 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.”

·        Critical Eyes

Matthew 7:3-5: "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?   Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.”

It’s easy to be critical of others. So many today find small things they can pick out about a person they don’t like, and they ride that white horse to death. You really see this in politics where people will criticize anything they can to make themselves look better and, unfortunately, Christians are guilty of this as well. Instead of loving someone and trying to encourage them to do better, they will speak evil of that person and point out all of their weak points, even when the person saying these things may have the exact same weaknesses.

James 4:11-12:  “Do not speak evil of one another, brethren, for he who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.  There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. So, who are you to judge another?”

We must be careful not to have critical eyes as this will only cause problems and will stunt the growth of the church.

·        Closed Eyes

Matthew 13:14-15: "And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.' 

Many of the Pharisees during the 1^st century had this problem. They did not want to see the truth because they wanted to live in their own truths. A lot of people are like this today. They don’t want to see what the word of God says; instead, they want to live by the philosophy, “if  it feels good, it’s got to be right.

Sometimes, Christians who were once faithful and had their eyes open, have closed them once again.

2 Peter 2:20-21: “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.”

Be careful not have closed eyes to the truth or you will become lost.

·        Compassionate Eyes

1 Peter 3:8: “Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another, love as brethren, be courteous.”

This means that if you see someone hurting or in need, you feel for that person and will try to do what you can to help them. Jesus certainly had compassion on the multitudes of people who were sick and diseased. Look at the example that Jesus gives:

Luke 10:30-37: “Then Jesus answered and said: A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.  So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.  Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”  Strive to have compassionate eyes.

·        Faithful Eyes

Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.:

Hebrews 11:6:  “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

So if you want to have the kind of eyes that are pleasing God, you must have faithful eyes.

Hebrews 11:8-10: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

Hebrews 12:1-2: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”