Luke 11:33-36

Luke 11:33-36 “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”

Jesus said, your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eyes are good (see correctly, accurately), your whole body will be full of light. But if they are bad (do not see well), your body will be full of darkness, shadows. Do you see clearly or poorly? Is your life full of bitterness and negativity or full of Christ's redeeming light? What are you eyes like? Are they bright with Jesus' light or are they dark with the fleshly desires of the world? We can allow our lamps to be anything we desire. We can light our lamps with Christ or with the flesh. IN CHRIST, our lamps will brighten up the whole room, but in the flesh, our lamps will be an imperfect, quivering candles that allow darkness and shadow to dominate the room. The Bible says you can serve only one master. This is true with our eyes, we can have only one dominate lamp. Jesus' says there will be either light or darkness, one or the other. He says, see to it that the light within you is not darkness.

I have been reading two books about the Russians occupying Afghanistan. The major impression I have from these two books is how wicked people can be on both sides of the conflict, how really dark the world is. When people experience and see only darkness, death, and violence, their hearts become very evil. They mull over evil deeds; they torture, maim, and kill. They seek to hurt others, take advantage of others, kill others. Their eye-lamp reflects darkness not light, and oh how great is that darkness! The Bible indicates, They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. (Romans 1:29-31) When people take God out of their eyes, darkness prevails. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:21)

Jesus came to bring light and life to the world. John 1 says, The light (Jesus) shines in the darkness. If we want real light, heavenly light, we must turn to Jesus, for He is light. Without him, even the best heart will have darkness prevail. Sin blots out light; sin prevents light from having its way. We must deal with sin and darkness through the blood of Jesus Christ. All other light will fail; only Jesus, the light of the world, will prevail. Jesus says, love your enemies. How can we do that without his light? Without his light, we would be just as the people in Afghanistan, hurting and killing our enemies. Jesus said, forgive them; Stephen said, forgive them. Without God's light, we cannot forgive, see the goodness in people, and love wholeheartedly. Is this kind of light beyond the grasp of humans? Yes, for sure. But if we remain in Christ and if He is in us, we have the possibility to love others as we love ourselves. Let that kind of love be in us Lord, let that lamp be our eyes.