Your Eye Leads You

What grabs your attention throughout the day?

Today's passage isn't just about what you are looking at, but how you take in what you are seeing throughout the day. In the Jewish culture Jesus came from, someone had an "evil eye" if they were envious or covetous of another person's possessions, position, or generally was not charitable toward others. Someone had a "good eye" if they had an attitude of gentleness, generosity, goodwill, and kindness for others.

When we focus on worldly things like possessions, status, and pleasures we foster an evil eye which creates a dark heart in us. Over time, our hearts drift away from what truly matters.

An “evil eye” doesn’t always look obviously sinful. Sometimes it simply looks like living consumed by self. It can show up in constantly wanting more, resenting someone else’s success or being unwilling to give generously because we are afraid of losing what we have.

But Jesus calls His followers to have a “good eye” which changes the way we see everything. We stop seeing people as competition and start seeing them as people to love. We stop chasing temporary treasures and start investing in eternal things. We stop asking, “What can I get?” and start asking, “How can I serve?”

When our focus is on Christ, our hearts become full of light. His love produces generosity, humility, compassion, and contentment in us. Instead of being consumed by the world, we begin reflecting Him to the world.