KEEPING THE WINDOWS OF OUR SOUL CLEAN


Ever notice the sparkle Disney movies insert into the eyes of some of their characters to give them a certain emotion? Have you ever actually seen that sparkle in a female's eyes as she is about to become a mom? Or have you seen it in the eyes of a pair who have fallen head-over-heels in love? How about the joy of just a good day pouring out from the eyes of one of your friends? The powerful, communicative effect of our eyes is real. And with this truth comes an awesome responsibility.

How you interpret, process and respond to what you see is the key to Keeping The Windows of Our Soul Clean. William Shakespeare is noted as saying, "The eyes are the windows to our soul." Matthew 6:22 in the New International Version says, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light." The priceless question is - do you want your whole body to be "full of light"?

Jesus says, "The eye is the lamp of the body." So, our eyes are going to illuminate a lot about us - good, bad or anywhere in between. That is what the original word for "lamp", luchnos, means in this verse - portable lamp, illuminator, and/or candle - literally or figuratively. 

The focus should be on what Jesus said next - "If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light." Even though the word then is not in this sentence, I label it an "If...Then" statement because of its beginnings (If) and consequences. Back to the priceless question - do you want "your whole body full of light"? The phrase "full of light" comes from the original word photeinos meaning a transparent vessel that reveals the well-illuminated space within. "Healthy" or haplous means singular, fixed and/or clear. So, to keep our eyes or vision in this manner is to keep it only on the One True God, fixed on His sacrifice and blessings for all of us and continue to strive for purity with them. The result is the light will be well represented in you - throughout your whole body. The Living Bible Translation of Matthew 6:2 says, "If your eye is pure, there will be sunshine in your soul." If the translation was left up to me I would change "sunshine" to Sonshine!

You see, as soon as we open our eyes from sleep each day, whatever we lay our eyes on is connected to the mind and heart (emotions). Some things we can control what we digest through our vision, other times we cannot. For the times we cannot control our visual environment we must pray that Holy Spirit screens all communications going through and out of our eyes. The Holy Spirit as a Judge and Filter of our visual intake and output will help us shine His light for all the world to see and aid us in Keeping The Windows Of Our Soul Clean.


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