Lighting Up Your Life

Years ago there was a song entitled, "You Light Up My Life" sung by Debby Boone. (Her dad was Pat Boone for those of you gobble up music trivia.)

Part of the song talks about how the singer's life is filled with hope and light by the person to whom she is singing. She finds "hope to carry on" because of the one she loves.

And this question came to my mind: What lights up my life?

- Seeing my children do well in a concert or an athletic competition lights up my life

- Seeing my wife after I've been away from home for a time lights up my life

- Hearing the punchline to a good joke lights up my life

- Knowing that someone is connecting with God, even in some, small way, really lights up my life

You "light up my life". And you can see it in my face. You can see it in my smile. You can see it my eyes.

I thought of that song this morning as I read Matthew 6:22-23.

The eye is the lamp of the body.
If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.
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!

Sometimes we're tempted to look to other people and at other places to "light up our life".

We look to promising careers.

We look to anticipated vacations.

We look to friends or family to make us happy.

But ultimately, there is only One who deserves our full gaze because He is the only One who can truly light up our life.

Our life will be full of light if our eyes are "good", if they are on The Good.

"Good eyes" tells me I should be focusing on what matters.

A "good eye" is not simply one that possesses strong muscles or has the best vision. A "good eye" is one that looks at the best things. Desires, believes, hopes for the best. (See 1 Cor. 13 and Philippians 4:8)

In the opposite way, a "bad eye" spends its time looking at the wrong things, or the right things with the wrong intentions. It becomes "green with envy". It becomes so angry that we can't "see straight". Our eyes can really mess us up by what they look at.

And have you ever tried to look at two things at once?? You end up cross-eyed. You end up dizzy. You end up looking weird. (You can't serve 2 masters [Matthew 6:24]).

So look only at One. Look only at The Good.

Jesus said, "There is no one good but God." He is the only One that deserves our undivided staring. If He is the Object of our constant look, our regular glance, our eyes won't be able to help but be "good".

However, if our eyes are habitually looking to things or people other than God to provide safety, security, predictability, "then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"

Then we're in trouble. Our eyes are "bad".

I want my eyes to be "good", don't you?

May He be the Object of your affections and the One to whom you constantly are glancing.

He'll light up your life.

Grace & peace