Jesus calls the eye “the lamp of the body” (Matt. 6:22; Luke 11:24) as it is the instrument through which the body is illumined and the mind is enlightened. We say things like, “let me shed some light on the subject” or “do you see what I’m saying” all in an effort to increase understanding and comprehension. The Bible uses figurative phrases such as “lift up your eyes” (Isa. 49:18) and “open my eyes” (Psalm 119:18) to remind us of our serious responsibility to be careful with this entrusted possession.

A disciple is nothing more than one who is disciplined, one who has brought his life, his thoughts, his behavior, and his emotions under the control of Jesus Christ. He is a dedicated and devoted follower who is willing to submit his will to His will and to be trained and instructed in His righteousness. The disciplining of the eye is vital to such training and instruction, and we must make sure that we get them checked on a regular basis.

Allow me to illustrate, or as Brother Bowman would say, ilLUStrate.

Look straight ahead. “Let your eyes look directly ahead, and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you” (Prov. 4:25). Many an accident would be avoided if we would keep our eyes on the road and not on the roadblocks. When we become distracted by everything that is going on around us, we lose our focus on what is supposed to be going on in front of us. While we need to walk circumspectly, cautiously looking about and surveying the detours, we must not forget that the race is set before us.

There is a sign beneath the clock in the auditorium at the church building in La Porte. It says, “Remember Lot’s wife.” Don’t look back. The more you look behind you, the more you’re apt to move backwards. Paul said, “brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14). Let’s forget about our failures of the past, concentrate on our opportunities of the present, and labor towards our home of the future.

Fix your eyes straight in front of you, on the finish line, where the author and perfecter of our faith awaits us, Jesus Christ.

Eliminate double vision. “The lamp of your body is your eye; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness” (Luke 11:34). The word clear is also rendered single in some places and literally means “without fold” as with a napkin or piece of paper. Jesus uses it in His Sermon on the Mount in the context of condemning those who were trying to serve both God and mammon.

Too many are double-minded and suffering from double vision. They are trying to have the best of both worlds, unable to make a commitment, straddling the fence of life therefore becoming unstable in all their ways. “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matt. 6:23).

Christianity is about having a single focus, a one-track mind that is wholly dedicated to serving the Lord. It is not blurred or obscured by the world but set apart to do all that He has commanded us. Clear your eyes and adjust your lenses to eliminate double vision.

Correct nearsightedness. “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17-18). All of the great Bible heroes at one time or another faced some seemingly overwhelming obstacle that tested their faith and could have caused them to quit. But they were able to overcome them because they were “looking to the reward” (Heb. 11:26).

A number of Christians have dropped out of the race because of their failure to see the crown amid all of the crosses they had to bear. Peter describes those who lack the qualities of faith, godliness and perseverance as “blind or short-sighted” (2 Pet 1:9). They are visually impaired because the temporal difficulties have blocked their view of the eternal prize. We can endure these trials if we will set our vision on that which can only be seen through the eye of faith.

It is reported that Augustine was once approached by a pagan holding an idol who said, “here is my god; where is yours?” Augustine answered, “I cannot show my God, because you have no eyes with which to see Him.” Believing is seeing. Why not examine your eyes today?