“Vindicate me, O Lord,
for I have walked in my integrity,
and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
test my heart and my mind.
For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in your faithfulness.”
“I will not set before my eyes
anything that is worthless.
I hate the work of those who fall away;
it shall not cling to me.
A perverse heart shall be far from me;
I will know nothing of evil.” Psalm 26:1-3; 101:3-4
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” Matthew 6:22
“Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,.. and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him.., so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.” Hebrews 12:1-3
“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2
Eyes are the window to the soul, the door to the mind, the spark to emotion, the prompt to impulse. To keep good and not evil, meaningful and not worthless, lofty and not profane, love and not arrogance, takes a consistent, definitive act of the will. Be careful little eyes what you see!
With the gift of sight comes much responsibility, because what we look on ultimately determines our loves and investments. The enemy presents a daily array intended to arrest us and captivate affections, to draw us in and suck us dry. With everything available and alluring, we must train the eye to focus, sometimes immediately near, sometimes beyond the fray to the eternal and beyond, always on Jesus. The Lord gives discernment when we deliberately commit what to turn from and what to be intent on for His sake.
Are we regularly setting God’s steadfast love before us? How are we seeking His face? Do we relish His benevolence and care, and look for Him in our routines? With thankfulness comes expectation, training our eyes to see His hand of grace, favor, and beauty. (Psalms 27:8)
Have we determined what not to look on for our protection and witness, and His honor? What steps will we take to block off what turns us astray and denigrates our morals or His name? In what area has His Spirit alerted our conscience to fit blinders to bitterness, constant complaint, or lewd visuals, and to actively refocus?
As Jesus looked to His Father and the joy before Him, will we look to Jesus for perseverance in testing, zeal in living, and vitality in worship?
“Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see,
Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see.
There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love,
Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see.” ~ Harry Dixon Loes (1892-1965)
Lord, fix my eyes on You, keeping Your holiness, worth, and glory before me all my days.
As the rain and snow 