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“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 bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness. “- Matthew 6:22

Eyes are interesting organs. They allow us to see objects and people in our lives which can bless and enrich us, as well as those things which are poisonous and can kill us.

We can see things that are very beautiful as well as very ugly, and we see things that can either bring us pleasure or misery; it all depends on what our eyes see through our perspective and perception.

The biggest influence on perceiving something as pleasing or repulsive, is the nature of our desire for that object of person. Is it a desire to have that object of person in our lives in order to bring glory and honour to God, or will the object of our desire be so misperceived that it will ultimately lead to our destruction?

Unfortunately because of the distortion of sin, what we most often freely desire is that which is least beneficial to us.

As a personal example; I struggle with weight and have all my life, and like many who have weight issues, I’ve also had a life-long addiction to sweets.

So naturally, when it comes to that leftover piece of birthday cake in the refrigerator, I stand there and weigh my options: on the one hand, there is the decedent piece of chocolate cake with fudge icing making my mouth water, and on the other is the aforementioned weight issue as well as my blood glucose level indicating I’m pre-diabetic.

Should I surrender to the temptation calling to me or resist? Ahhh..What the heck, Let’s go for it! After all, it’s just a piece of cake. And after all, what could ONE PIECE hurt, right?

It could hurt a lot; maybe not at the moment, but in the long run. Giving in to any temptation could very well turn into a life or death situation, because the tempted individual may either have not taken into account every possible consequences, may be completely ignorant of them, or both.

Of course, there are far worse temptations which can lead to far greater consequences. For example: drug addiction, alcoholism, gambling problems, and sex addiction; each beginning with the notion “what could ONE shot of whiskey, or ONE line of cocaine or shot of heroin, or ONE toss of the dice, ONE time with a prostitute hurt? These behaviors can easily turn into additions which can lead to physical and mental deterioration, disease, joblessness, bankruptcy, divorce, shattered families and relationships, and ultimately horrible and preventable deaths.

In Genesis 3:4-7, we read the account of the “original sin”; that first act of disobedience which doomed humanity to an existence to a perpetual sinful state. We can already see the familiar pattern used by the tempter: convince the victim that the consequences of giving into the temptation won’t be nearly as bad as warned, but are actually benecial.

Once coming to that conclusion, whatever the temptation is has now become not only desirable, but actually worth the risk. Unfortunately, the unforseen consequence of that action affected not only Adam and Eve, but has INfected all following generations.

Jesus understood the role the eye plays in destroying not only the body, but more importantly, the soul. He teaches us that perspective and perception through our eyes can twist that which was meant for good into a means for destruction, as well as thereafter seeing that which evil as something wholesome and beneficial.

If we see our surroundings through the eyes of righteousness, our bodies (as well as our hearts and minds) will be restored and edified, whereas if we see the world through the eyes darkened by wickedness, our whole being will be enveloped by sin.