Let the Light Shine 01.27.2023

What we allow our eyes to view will certainly affect us.  Yes, the images that we “see” can and will have an impact on the direction of our lives.  This is the message that Jesus is sharing in Matthew 6 when he says, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness.”  Matthew 6:22-23.  I learned the truth and the power of this verse just the other day.

Just recently I have been participating in several Conference events in which I’ve been away from home and staying in a hotel in other communities.  I tend to be an early riser, and one of my habits is that once I’m awake early in the morning, I go find the fitness room and I get on a treadmill and run a couple miles.  So, the other morning I found the fitness room and they had some pretty new and pretty nice treadmills.  These were the kind that have a large screen right in front of the belt on which the person runs, and on that screen are images of places where a person might run.  

The video started out showing running in a forest along a nice running path.  Yes, I could get into this.  Then I was running along a stream with a mountain view up ahead.  I could definitely get into this.  Very enjoyable scenery.  But then suddenly I was running in a narrow canyon and the view I was seeing was making me feel like I needed to duck so I wouldn’t hit my head.  I needed to lean a certain direction because there was an outcropping of rock.  

Then once again, the scenery changed.  Now I was running through the narrow streets of an European city. The view was nice, but there were lots of obstacles.  I was running right beside cars that I was way too close to for my comfort level.  At one point on the video a person intentionally jumped out in front of me and faced the camera like they were going to grab me.  I literally leaned to the side on the treadmill to avoid the person on the screen.  Thank goodness that this treadmill had handrails, because that’s the only thing that kept me from falling off the treadmill.  

What I was seeing on the screen wasn’t real.  It wasn’t a real threat to me.  Yet what my eyes saw and how my brain responded to what I was seeing seemed very real and my body reacted to the “imputs” it was receiving.  The next day when I made my way to the fitness room again, and stepped onto the same treadmill.  This time I made a conscious choice – I wasn’t going to watch the screen in front of me.  Fortunately, by looking straight ahead I could look right over the top of the screen and change the view that my brain was receiving, and my run went just fine.

Sometimes I feel in this journey of life we forget the power of the images that we see.  This is part of the power and influence of social media and the video or “image” world in which we live.  We see things, like other people’s seemingly perfect lives…and we want that too.  We see images of something that stirs up a hunger or desire within (yes, food, sexuality, material items, etc) and suddenly we have a strong appetite within ourselves that is giving us a message to indulge.  These are images and messages that can throw us off the path of following Jesus the way we want and intend to.

But the opposite is also true.  The images that we take in with our eyes can be helpful, encouraging, and even positive influences that help us on our journey.  This is why spending time with God each day is so important.  This is why it is encouraged that followers of Jesus read the Bible regularly.  This is why we build connections with other people and why we have a church family, to be a supportive community that can give positive, helpful, supportive, and even loving “imputs” for our journey.  This is in part why we have worship and why we are encouraged to serve others.  All of this influences the views…or the light that is brought into our lives, as Jesus tells us.  And what we allow into our lives through our eyes, and senses, will indeed influence the direction and the destiny of our lives.

Today, may we seek to allow the light to fill our lives, the light of the world.  Because as John tells us “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.”  John 1:5.  Fill you day with positive and God-worthy images.  It will truly bring light into your life…and the lives of those around you.

Serving Together,

Pastor Keith