Single Vision: Entranced by the Beauty of Christ

But my eyes are fixed on You, O Sovereign Lord…(Psalm 141:8a) 

In Matthew 6: 22-23, it says:

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Consulting John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes, this is what I got:

The eye is the lamp of the body - And what the eye is to the body, the intention is to the soul. We may observe with what exact propriety our Lord places purity of intention between worldly desires and worldly cares, either of which directly tend to destroy. If thine eye be single - Singly fixed on God and heaven, thy whole soul will be full of holiness and happiness. If thine eye be evil - Not single, aiming at any thing else.

No wonder that the lamp of the wicked is haughty eyes which are detestable to God (Proverbs 21:4; Proverbs 6:16-17). 

Warnings about Our Eyes

• Lust of the eyes is one of the sinful desires and proofs that you love the world. It is not from the Father (I John 2:16). One of the devil’s deceiving ways is not to show you something bad but to entice you with what is pleasing to the eye. (see Genesis 3:6, the fruit was pleasing to the eye of Eve) 

•  What is seen by the eyes is tempting to become our standards of living. God has warned Samuel in I Samuel 16:7 not to look at the outward appearance for man intends to look that way. The eye can deceive us not to look beyond. Because the things of the worlds seem to be more attractive sometimes, that is the need that we need to look above and train our eyes to be focused on the cross of Christ. 

• Our eyes deceive us to focus on ourselves and become selfish and self-righteous (Proverbs 3:7). There is the danger also on looking more often at yourself, not just at the world. Pharisees are wise in their own eyes but are fools in front of God. May we never be a Pharisee, keeping the eyes on one’s state and always looking at himself higher and more righteous that the others. 

•  Lust of the flesh starts with the eyes (Job 31:1; Matthew 5:28). 

Take the following examples and how they use their eyes:

• Eve (Gen. 3:6) – she was deceived by the pleasing appearance of the forbidden fruit 

•  Lot (Gen. 13:8-11) – he chose what is pleasing to his eyes and was led to Sodom and Gommorah and later needed to run away from it for the Lord will destroy the place

• Israelites (Exodus 14) – they saw the Egyptian army and was easily deceived that they have forgotten what the Lord has just done to them

• Samson (Judges 14) – Samson’s weakness as they say are women when in fact, his weakness is his eyes. He is easily attracted and he gives in easily to what is pleasing to his eyes.

• Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8:9-24) – he saw the power of the God working in the lives of the apostles and so, instead of standing in awe of God’s greatness, he was enticed by the power he saw. 

Some Spiritual Disciplines for the Eyes 

1.  We should fix our eyes on Jesus. (Psalm 25:15; 121:1; 141:8;Hebrews 12:2)  
2. We should fix our eyes on God and His precepts. (Psalm 17:2; 119:6, 15, 14) 
3. We should fix our eyes not on temporal things but on eternal and spiritual. (II Corinthians 4:18)
4. We should forsake anything worthless. (Psalm 101:3; 119:37)
5. We should fix our eyes on those who set godly examples. (Philippians 3:17)
6. We should fix our eyes on the needs of others more than our needs. (Philippians 2:4)