Reading: Luke 11:33-36
“No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.”
The lamp of our body is our eye, that is to say, “Where is your gaze, your heart?” There is a serious warning in this passage. Make sure that the light in you is really light and not darkness.
How is this?
Remember the last passage, where Jesus scolds the crowd for asking for signs even though they don’t want to believe that He is the Messiah. The signs that they have already seen are more than sufficient to discern who Jesus is, and to show that only someone with Divine identity has power over demons, nature, sickness, and even over death. Despite this, they do not believe. They believe they have light, but they are blind, in the most absolute darkness.
We are not any better than them; we can also think that we’re in the light, and still have hearts full of darkness.
Sometimes we can come to think that our years in the church, the passages of Scripture that we know by heart, the books that we have read, the sermons that we have heard are a guarantee that we are walking in the light. But maybe not. All these things help, bless, and edify only if they are penetrating and transforming our hearts.
Where is our gaze fixed? What desires and priorities are shaping our view of the world?
If we let Christ and His Word be the lens through which we look, the light is in us, and it permits us to see everything clearly.
But if our sight is bent by sin, by our interests, by the pride that always wants to reign in our thoughts, we will see everything halfway, and we will walk with wisdom.
MEDITATE: Each day, let the Word of God examine you, present yourself before your Lord with humility, asking for wisdom, discernment, and light. Give us, Lord, a biblical mind!
Translation By: Emily Stader
