Eye-so-see-ation

Disclaimer: This post will disconnectedly go straight to the point.

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The eyes, they say, are the windows to the soul.

But what does that really mean?

If you look into my eyes, could you tell what’s on my mind? Maybe. And most people who use this quote focus on what’s outside looking in. We’re all really good at analysing the things around us in an attempt to give our own opinion or two. But many times we take for granted what the soul is looking at from the inside out. As a window lets people see inside a house, so does the same window let those inside the house see outside. It’s a two-way street.

It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 2 Samuel 11:2

For those familiar with this verse of the Bible, you’ll know that it was the start of one of the greatest scandals ever (if you’re interested in the rest of the story, click here). Just one look and the mighty King David came tumbling down like Humpty Dumpty. Who would have thought that a woman would trump Goliath? But as David fed his soul with the sights of Bathsheba taking a bath, he opened the doors to lust, greed and covetousness, and they walked right in with adultery, lies and murder . . . and it cost the life of an innocent child.

We have totally underestimated the power of our eyes and the effects of what we see.

“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 the darkness!” Matthew 6:22-23

There’s something else. Our eyes work with our brains, making connections with things we see, attaching memories, values and sentiments. How many times have you seen something very simple and immediately it gets your mind associating it with something else?

Let’s do a little exercise.

Can you tell me what you think of when you see this:

A nicely bitten apple or the Apple Inc. logo?

Let’s try another one . . .

A lovely rainbow or the Pride Symbol? (Check again, it’s not a rainbow)

Somehow, a group of people have taken something that some years ago were just what we thought them to be, and have realigned our psyche to re-associate these things with new ideas or identities.

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13

Have you ever met someone, and after you first encounter, you associate a certain trait, or habit, or attitude with the person, so that every other time you come in contact with them, the first thing that comes to your mind is . . .

EYE-SO-SEE-ATION: our eyes see and associate!

But we all, seeing the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, as in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18

So if the things we see could transform us from the inside so that when we are seen, we’re associated with a certain trait, attribute or character, shouldn’t we expose our eyes only to what will make us better people?

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Philippians 4:8

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As straight to the point: Protect your eyes; protect your heart!

PROTECT YOU!

 

 

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Feature Photo by Kat J