The other morning I was distracted. I could not stay focused on the bible study I was trying to work on. I could not look at the book or read for more than a few seconds. Why? There was something in my right eye. At first, it was a slight annoyance. I kept rubbing at my eye, even pulling at my eyelashes. Eventually, I had to get up, go to a mirror, and look into my eye to see what was bothering me. Sure, enough it was an eyelash lying on my eyeball, right next to my iris. Once I extracted it I could see clearly again. The interesting thing is that the more my right eye was agitated, the less I was able to use my left eye. It was better than my right, but it was hard to keep it open. This foreign object was affecting my sight.
When we get a foreign object in our eyes, like an eyelash or a speck it bothers the cornea. The cornea is the clear covering of the eye, it is what allows light to come through, and it focuses that light into the retina. It also can annoy the conjunctiva, the thin mucus membrane that covers the white of your eye. Your bodies natural defense against foreign objects is to coat them and push them out of the eye. In the mean time, your eye is bugging you like crazy. You rub, pull and tug. Trying to make it stop.
All of this brought to mind the scripture in Matthew chapter 7. Jesus is teaching on judging others. He begins by saying very simply, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." Matt 7:1 (NIV)
He continues, "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Matt 7:2 (NIV)
Now for the eyes - "Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of you eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Matt 7:3-5 (NIV)
This makes sense. My sin, which blocks my ability to see clearly because like the foreign object in my eye it keeps the light from coming through my cornea. Sin in our lives is like a plank, a large stumbling block that keeps us from following the path that God has set before us. We believe we are seeing the sin of another person, the speck in their eye. However, how can we possibly see it our spiritual eyes have the foreign object of sin in them.
Even if it is just one eye that the sin is in, it will affect the other. What do I mean by that? Let's call both eyes presumptuous sin, and one eye the rest of the stuff we are doing that we don't realize we are in error about.
For example, I have a bad habit of correcting people. When they say something that I know to be in error, regardless of what it is. Whether it is important or not. I will speak up and correct them. These are times that are not led by the Holy Spirit. I can tell myself this is my desire to exercise my gift of teaching, which was given to me by God. However, in reality when I am doing this by my own power it is not about teaching, but showing people how much I know. It is pride. It is a form of boasting. It is something I have to repent of when I catch myself doing it, and turn over to the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit leads me to teach, as with this blog, than it is coming from Him. His words to His people. I have no part in them, I decrease and He increases. As it should be.
When we are looking at the faults of others, we are not coming from the Holy Spirit, but from our own spirit. From our flesh. Some versions of this same scripture refer to the plank as a log. Essentially, this piece of wood is large and cumbersome. It blocks the light, Jesus from working effectively in our life. Just like the sin it represents.
What is your sin, what do you have in your eye that is keeping you from seeing clearly? The plank not only blocks you from seeing what is around you, it blocks your view of God. Sin keeps us from seeing Him, it also keeps us from being able to move. We are stuck in one spot, if we try we would start running into things making a huge mess of all we encounter.
Only the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God allows us to look into the spiritual mirror and see into our spiritual eyes and remove the plank from our eye. This is not a one time removal however, we may have to do it weekly, daily, or even hourly. We have to push ourselves to the point of being sensitive enough to His Spirit that we are aware every time the offending foreign object tries to reinsert itself into our eye. Once we have learned to systematically keep it out of our eye, we can start helping other remove the "speck" from their own eyes. We actually will see that what we thought was such a big deal, was in reality, a problem with our personal perspective due to the inability to see clearly.
Take the time to get the plank from your eye. Spend time in His Word. Reading, meditating, and ingesting all He has for you. His Holy Spirit will open your eyes to the areas you need to work on. This will not be easy, but it will be worth it. Let Him remove the plank. Then one day, you can hold the hand of someone else while He helps them, removing what is a speck for you, but a plank for them. Eventually, they too will do the same for someone as well. It is how His Kingdom works, perpetually paying forward what is received. Aren't you ready to receive clear sight?
Heavenly Father, help us to not be so caught up with the speck in our neighbor's eyes that we trip over the plank in our own. Let us be sensitive to the darkness the plank of sin causes. Sensitive to Your Holy Spirit and His guidance into complete healing of all sin which we indulge in. Let us be open to Your correction. Let us heed Your advise. Give us the fortitude to become all You created us to be, which can only be done once we allow You to remove the plank from our own eye, so we can see clearly to help our fellow man. We praise and thank You for Your love and devotion to us, and the fact that You never give up on us. We praise and glorify Your name and seek Your face in all we do.
In Jesus name, Amen.
When we get a foreign object in our eyes, like an eyelash or a speck it bothers the cornea. The cornea is the clear covering of the eye, it is what allows light to come through, and it focuses that light into the retina. It also can annoy the conjunctiva, the thin mucus membrane that covers the white of your eye. Your bodies natural defense against foreign objects is to coat them and push them out of the eye. In the mean time, your eye is bugging you like crazy. You rub, pull and tug. Trying to make it stop.
All of this brought to mind the scripture in Matthew chapter 7. Jesus is teaching on judging others. He begins by saying very simply, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." Matt 7:1 (NIV)
He continues, "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Matt 7:2 (NIV)
Now for the eyes - "Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of you eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Matt 7:3-5 (NIV)
This makes sense. My sin, which blocks my ability to see clearly because like the foreign object in my eye it keeps the light from coming through my cornea. Sin in our lives is like a plank, a large stumbling block that keeps us from following the path that God has set before us. We believe we are seeing the sin of another person, the speck in their eye. However, how can we possibly see it our spiritual eyes have the foreign object of sin in them.
Even if it is just one eye that the sin is in, it will affect the other. What do I mean by that? Let's call both eyes presumptuous sin, and one eye the rest of the stuff we are doing that we don't realize we are in error about.
For example, I have a bad habit of correcting people. When they say something that I know to be in error, regardless of what it is. Whether it is important or not. I will speak up and correct them. These are times that are not led by the Holy Spirit. I can tell myself this is my desire to exercise my gift of teaching, which was given to me by God. However, in reality when I am doing this by my own power it is not about teaching, but showing people how much I know. It is pride. It is a form of boasting. It is something I have to repent of when I catch myself doing it, and turn over to the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit leads me to teach, as with this blog, than it is coming from Him. His words to His people. I have no part in them, I decrease and He increases. As it should be.
When we are looking at the faults of others, we are not coming from the Holy Spirit, but from our own spirit. From our flesh. Some versions of this same scripture refer to the plank as a log. Essentially, this piece of wood is large and cumbersome. It blocks the light, Jesus from working effectively in our life. Just like the sin it represents.
What is your sin, what do you have in your eye that is keeping you from seeing clearly? The plank not only blocks you from seeing what is around you, it blocks your view of God. Sin keeps us from seeing Him, it also keeps us from being able to move. We are stuck in one spot, if we try we would start running into things making a huge mess of all we encounter.
Only the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God allows us to look into the spiritual mirror and see into our spiritual eyes and remove the plank from our eye. This is not a one time removal however, we may have to do it weekly, daily, or even hourly. We have to push ourselves to the point of being sensitive enough to His Spirit that we are aware every time the offending foreign object tries to reinsert itself into our eye. Once we have learned to systematically keep it out of our eye, we can start helping other remove the "speck" from their own eyes. We actually will see that what we thought was such a big deal, was in reality, a problem with our personal perspective due to the inability to see clearly.
Take the time to get the plank from your eye. Spend time in His Word. Reading, meditating, and ingesting all He has for you. His Holy Spirit will open your eyes to the areas you need to work on. This will not be easy, but it will be worth it. Let Him remove the plank. Then one day, you can hold the hand of someone else while He helps them, removing what is a speck for you, but a plank for them. Eventually, they too will do the same for someone as well. It is how His Kingdom works, perpetually paying forward what is received. Aren't you ready to receive clear sight?
Heavenly Father, help us to not be so caught up with the speck in our neighbor's eyes that we trip over the plank in our own. Let us be sensitive to the darkness the plank of sin causes. Sensitive to Your Holy Spirit and His guidance into complete healing of all sin which we indulge in. Let us be open to Your correction. Let us heed Your advise. Give us the fortitude to become all You created us to be, which can only be done once we allow You to remove the plank from our own eye, so we can see clearly to help our fellow man. We praise and thank You for Your love and devotion to us, and the fact that You never give up on us. We praise and glorify Your name and seek Your face in all we do.
In Jesus name, Amen.
