What About Those Eyes?

“For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life – is not from the Father but is from the world.” 1 John 2:16

September 5, 2022

There is a tradition that says there were some of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day known as the bruised and bleeding Pharisees. In their desire to not look upon a woman to lust after her, they went about constantly closing their eyes. You can figure out the stumbles, mishaps, and falls that happened. The world that followers of Christ are not to love confronts us by the things we admire with our eyes. Blindness is not the advised weapon. The problem runs more deeply than the physical eyes. Our sinful hearts can conjure up and associate values with what pleases our sight. Remember Achan in the book of Joshua (Josh. 6-7)? He saw beautiful clothes and money in the city of Jericho, coveted them and took them, contrary to God’s prohibition. Achan paid a price that exceeded the value of what he thought he had to have. But Achan is no novelty, nor was David who had to sexually possess Bathsheba, another man’s wife (2 Sam. 11:2). We live in a world filled with eye candy, things that look attractive to the eyes, but don’t tell us the whole story. Think of the hazards; obsession with our own personal appearance, stopping to admire oneself in front of every mirror. There is a reason why pornography is a billion dollar industry. Coming into the new football season, the practitioners of TV commercials know what draws the attention of the male eyes. What about that new, candy red SUV, with all the bells and whistles your neighbor just bought? We are only scratching the surface of how our eyes can draw us into things we can highly value, but are not consistent with God’s approval. Remember Eve’s eyes that helped to get us into the mess we are in (Gen. 3:6). All that glitters is not gold. We are to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). H

“There are quiet, unbiblical assumptions in our culture that shape our thinking and dictate the questions we ask.” Ed Welch