Matthew 6:22-23
Our Scripture reading for today is Matthew 6:22-23
[22] The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. [23] But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Today’s verses might seem hard to understand, but to understand the verse, or any verse in the Bible, one must read the context.
We read verses 22 and 23. But let’s read verse 21, the verse immediately before today’s reading. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
After today’s verses in verse 24, Jesus immediately goes back to the Christian view of wealth. He says, “No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. “
Understanding today’s reading, we see that Jesus is teaching that life is more than about getting and having things. The Christian life is about keeping one’s eye set on spiritual things. The “good eye” is the one that looks toward righteousness. The eye that is bad is the one that focuses on this world’s goods.
We live in the richest time for ordinary people, we live in the richest time for most people, We are blessed. God never said that wealth was a curse. But in these verses, Jesus said that wealth must not be the main focus of the Christian life.
Are you blessed? Wonderful! Do you have this world’s goods? Great! So did David, Solomon, Job, and Abraham. All of these had wealth but kept their eyes on God.
The real question is, where is your heart? Make a good living, but don’t let this earth’s goods become your master.
Lonnie Davis