Hey everybody! Thank you for joining me in daily Bible reading as we seek to glorify Jesus, know Him more, and interpret the truth of His Word.
If this is your first time going through the Bible, I am incredibly excited to have you here. If this is your 5000th time, I am humbled that you are here and hope you grow in your relationship with Jesus along with me. May we all seek to know Him more and apply what we learn to further our mission of spreading the gospel. If you missed a day and want to catch up, visit the archives page HERE! But there is no shame if you start today! Today, we continue Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount! Day 61, Matthew 6:22-23 — The Sermon on the Mount Matthew 6:22-23 (NASB1995) “The eye is the lamp of the body; so, then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” Review Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount's principal theme is differentiating our actions and attitudes. The Pharisees esteemed their self-righteousness as good in God’s sight; but failed in their works because their hearts were far from Him. They believed they were righteous for their works, but it is our motivation (attitudes) that God sees, not just what we do (actions). In summary, followers of Christ should avoid drawing attention to themselves as motivated by the acclaim of men (6:1-2). Doing so leads to spiritual pride (6:3-4) and self-righteous public displays of spirituality (6:5). Jesus also rebukes boastful public prayer (6:6), instructing His followers to pray faithfully and trust that God hears our requests, rather than engaging in meaningless and repetitive chants, songs, and phrases like the Gentiles (6:7-8). He then taught His disciples how to pray (6:9-15) and provided insight into the practice of fasting (6:16-18). Discussion Yesterday, we read Jesus’ first teaching on money and material possessions and learned that temporal wealth and treasures are some of the biggest distractions in the world. The pursuit of money, fame, and possessions drives the secular world, but God is eternal and knows the dangers and uselessness of temporal pursuits such as these. He tells us to not desire or store up these temporal treasures that can be destroyed and to instead pursue eternal ones, which last forever. Today, Jesus teaches about light and darkness. This is probably one of the more confusing passages we have read so far. What does Jesus mean that our eye is the lamp of the body? That it can be good and bad? Light and dark? Let’s first define what it means to have ‘clear’ eyes. The Greek word for clear is haplous meaning ‘good’, ‘simple’, ‘single’, or ‘sound.’ Some translations may say healthy instead of clear. If the eye sees light then it sees clearly, soundly, and simply—it is healthy. Scripture often uses light as a metaphor for truth, goodness, and understanding (Prv. 4:18-19; Matt. 4:16; 5:13; Jn. 8:12; 2 Cor. 4:6). What can define seeking eternal treasures more than seeking the clear, sound, and simple light of truth, goodness, and understanding? Jesus says, “The eye is the lamp of the body; so, then if your eye is clear [haplous], your whole body will be full of light.” Within the context of the previous verse about the pursuit of temporal and eternal treasures, Jesus is teaching us to keep our eyes on eternal things. If we do then our eyes will see light and keep our whole body clear and perfect. Jesus continues, “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.” If we seek temporal and decaying things then our body will become corrupted by the darkness of the world. What we allow ourselves to see determines a lot about the person we are. Likewise, what we seek confirms the fruit we bear. Are we seeking light or dark? Our perception of the world is rooted in what we see—if our eye is the lamp of the body then we must be diligent and discerning about what we see. We should care about what our eyes see because the world can twist our perception into darkness. Proverbs 4:25-27 says, “Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. 26 Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established. 27 Do not turn to the right nor to the left; turn your foot from evil.” If we are distracted by the world, then our perceptions will be twisted and our minds will be conflicted. Jesus is teaching His disciples to focus on the light—to avoid double-mindedness and evil. Like Proverbs says, “Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.” By doing so, we will avoid falling into the enemy's deception. Why is this important? Because evil lurks in the other directions. This evil can throw us off course and fill our bodies with darkness. It is vitally important that the Christian stays on the path filled with the light of Christ. Otherwise, we will be consumed by darkness and evil. As an impaired eye or an eye that looks sideways cannot see clearly, a mind and heart divided between heaven and earth is all dark. Mark 7:22-23 says that “deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness [all come from evil]. 23 All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” This evil is always present, lurking in the shadows to deceive and distract the child of God. If we remain distracted, gazing away from the clear and straight path of truth then we can be easily ensnared by the darkness. If we believe we are following the light but have the fruit of darkness, then “how great is the darkness!” Therefore, we must avoid distractions. We must seek truth and understanding. We pursue goodness and righteousness. We must focus on eternal things. Application Being pulled in various directions is a battle we all face every day. Our response to these pulls determines where we learn our perception comes from. This is why it is important to be careful what we allow our eyes to see and what we allow our mind to perceive. More practically, this is why it is important to seek truth and understanding through the study of the Scriptures. What can light our path more than God’s Word? Mark 12:30 says to love the LORD with all our heart, soul, strength, and MIND. How do we love Him with our minds? By seeking truth and understanding. I hope that we are doing this every day through our Daily Bible Reading. But if we allow the darkness of the world to consume our minds, it can alter our perception and redefine how we interpret the Word entirely. This is why must always seek truth and understanding and study God’s Word in context—not twist it! I hope today’s passage helps us all grow closer to the LORD and desire to seek truth and understanding and to help us stay focused on Him—on the path of light. May we praise, worship, honor, and glorify Jesus every day in all that we do while continually pursuing righteousness, holiness, and forgiveness as He forgave us. Looking Ahead Thank you for joining today’s daily Bible reading! Tomorrow, we read Matthew 6:24. I hope you join me! I have made commenting available, so please feel free to discuss the reading and ask questions. If you do not want to discuss publicly, you can reach out to me privately. We are on this journey together.
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