Rose Colored Glasses
Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is. Matthew 6:22-23
Insight
When I was a teenager, I had a pair of sunglasses with gold metal frames and pale-pink lenses. I felt like Farrah Fawcett when I wore them. (You should’ve seen my feathered hair.) Not only did these shades make me feel glamorous, they made the whole world look glowy, like every moment was the magic hour before sunset.
This “rose-colored glasses” memory is a pretty obvious analogy for Matthew 6:22-23, where Jesus is talking about having a healthy eye vs. an unhealthy eye. Some translations say “good eye” and “bad eye.” It took some research on my part (thank you, John Piper) to help me understand why these verses are nestled between Matthew 6:19-21 (about valuing God in heaven, not money on earth) and Matthew 6:24 (serving both God and money is impossible).
With this “eye” lesson, Jesus seems to be taking a wayward detour from His teachings on heavenly and earthly treasures. But there is a connection. Piper explains that the eye represents the way we see things. If we see material wealth as more precious than our eternal God, then we are filled with darkness. Because even things that seem bright — i.e., wealth, fame, Fendi sunglasses — will all be dust one day.
But when we focus on God’s infinite worth … His beauty and goodness and grace … we’re filled with light. We’re living in truth and freedom instead of enslavement to earthly possessions that won’t last.
Despite the world’s siren call to worship things we can see, as Christians, we are called to set our sights on our glorious God who loves us forever. That’s where real hope is: eternity with God.
Reflection
• As you wait for the global pandemic to pass, are you waiting on earthly or heavenly things?
• What spiritual discipline(s) can you engage in to nurture a “good eye”?
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the beautiful things of this world, both natural and man-made. Help me enjoy them without placing their value above Yours. Give me a right view of my life, which because of what Your Son accomplished on the cross, is secure in Your love today and in Your heavenly realms forever. Let that light be a beacon to others who don’t realize they’re in darkness. Amen.
Port City writer Katy Davis wrote today’s devotional.
