“Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.” Proverbs 27:20
Devotional Thought For The Day
It is good to read the various commentaries on the perverse effect that sin has upon human vision. What is a huge blessing, unthinkable to live without, ends up being a portal for all kinds of sin and discontentment. Eyes are not this by creation or by God’s design, but the sin within us seizes control of the eyes for its own perverse purposes, enslaving us to the desire for many things, and locking us into perpetual covetousness and lust – for what is promised, satisfaction, is never gained by looking or by acquisition of what can be peered upon, and much of what is viewed is beyond our ever acquiring. So, what begins as pleasantry ends in grotesque evils, or in the anguish of contemplating pleasures that can never be consummated. Yet there is compulsion not to “miss” anything – and so we can scarcely close our eyes at all. This compulsion is a perfectly miserable torture and a highly effective lure to sin and perversity, to greed and pride and arrogance.
What our eyes are aimed at is either luring or driving us to idolatry – to a desire and love for things that surpasses our love and desire for God, for His ways, for decency, devotion, and goodness. Such idolatry not only corrupts the very core of our being, it leads to spiritual death, physical death, and eternal death. Most people do not care – they know no other way of being than living in infatuation with pleasant things, and they consider all of this perfectly normal, never contemplating that we were not created for this, and that our eyes were not intended for this. Even if they knew, the temporal pleasures which actually plague and afflict them are so hypnotic that they consider them worth whatever kind of hell they might suffer after death, even if it is eternal. So our eyes are properly compared with the insatiable openness of death and hell, and the comparison is quite apt.
This brings us to the advisement of Jesus, that “if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.” [Matt. 18:9] Of course, the remaining eye will be compelled by our sinful nature to continue causing sin and idolatry, so eventually we would have to pluck it out as well. And if bereft of further visible stimuli, our minds would continue to “image” what our sinful nature brought into our being through vision, and we would continue to be plagued by the same enslavement and discontentment of idolatry. So the conundrum which the proverb identifies remains, and is not really a physical problem but a deeply spiritual affliction. Jesus’ comments then are to be understood as a severe warning about doing nothing in regard to this reality, and about the damnation that is sure to come if we choose to embrace and celebrate the perverse use of eyesight.
Jesus commented further on the use of our eyes: “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” [Matt. 6:22,23] The path of resolution is the same as that for all sin – repentance, the renewing and empowering effects of God’s gracious forgiveness and mercy, and knowing the path we should be walking. It matters not how often this must be repeated. It matters that our repentance be genuine, filled with horror at the dangerous and despicable nature of our sin and deep sorrow that we so often succumb to it, but also the peace and joy of receiving mercy, clemency, and forgiveness through the love of God in Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. Ultimately, it is only “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” [2 Cor. 4:6] that becomes more compelling to us than the “lust of the eyes” [1 Jn. 2:16], so that we might be “transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” And we must always remember that “this comes from the Lord Who is the Spirit.” [2 Cor. 3:18]
So the temptation will always be present, in powerful force, but that power can be broken by the love of God through repentance and the work of “the Lord Who is the Spirit” within us. The incredible darkness that the misuse of our eyes brings within us is dispelled by the light of the knowledge of the glory of God which God Himself shines in us through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. The source of that light is the Word of God, the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, which we read about with our eyes. Let us pray God each day, several times each day as necessary, to grant us His light and deliverance from the insatiable “lust of the eyes and the pride of life.” Then even our eyes can be restored to their God-given purpose and function – to the praise of His glorious grace.
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, it is hard to fathom how You can abide what our eyes bring into our hearts, and the outrageously pathetic idolatry this involves. Have mercy on us, and cause the joy of Your cleansing, forgiveness, and salvation to woo us away from such darkness. Grant that the light of Your perfect love burn away all covetousness, greed, and lust from our hearts, that even our eyes may see the beauty and glory of Your love. Give us eyes to see as You see, that they serve to guide us into true and genuine love for others. Amen.