WHAT DO YOU SEE?

WHAT DO YOU SEE? “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matt 6:22-23) The buzzard sees a dead rabbit, the butterfly sees a flower. The police officer sees a traffic violation, the tourist sees the sunset. The priest and the Levite saw a problem, the “good Samaritan” saw an opportunity (Lk. 10:25 - 37). Someone told the story of a father who inadvertently drove his family into a nudist camp. As they did so, several naked people rode by on bicycles. “Did you see that?” his little boy blurted out. “See what?” stuttered the father. “Not one of them had on a helmet”. No wonder Jesus said that we all need to be converted and become like little children. There can be little doubt that we see what we are looking for. Understanding this is helpful in examining ourselves to see if we are in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5). The teaching of Jesus about “good eyes” is sandwiched in between His teaching about laying up treasure in heaven and not serving two masters. The way we look at money provides insight into who we are. Paul associated the way we look at things with becoming a new creation (2 Cor. 5:16, 17). Before his conversion, Paul looked at everything from a worldly point of view. He even looked at Jesus in a worldly way. That’s why he persecuted believers. After becoming a “new creation”, however, he did not regard anyone from a worldly point of view. Because Christ dwelled in his heart by faith, Paul saw everyone and everything through the eyes of Jesus. Consequently his whole body was full of light. Most are familiar with the classic story of Christ and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well (Jn. 4:1 - 42). Even though she had been married 5 times and was living with a man to whom she was not married, Jesus looked at her differently than anyone had ever looked at her before. The many problems in her life could not be solved by anything superficial. The “living water” Jesus promised would result in such a total transformation that her very nature would be changed. If she drank that Living Water, her whole body would be full of light. Her new identity would transform her very nature so that she would be like a spring of water welling up to eternal life (Jn. 4:14). There is an old joke about the irate father who wrote to the president of the local college and complained: “I sent my daughter to your college expecting her to come home soaring like an eagle. Instead, she came waddling like an ugly duckling”. The president responded: “Next time, send us an eagle egg”. The problem of who we are and how we see things is not superficial! Jerusalem was filled with many things that would attract the attention of a 12 year old boy. There were plenty of games, girls, toys, food, and athletic contests in Jerusalem. Jesus, however, chose to be in the Temple learning about the things of God. That’s who He was! Who are you? The butterfly, as you know, is a transformed caterpillar. Caterpillars are destructive, but butterflies are not. Caterpillars mostly eat plant material, but some eat insects, and fabrics. When they first hatch, many caterpillars eat their own eggshells and some species are even cannibals. The transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly does not come from man, but by the miracle of metamorphosis that can only come from God. In the same we are not to be “conformed” to the pattern of this world but “transformed” by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2). While conversion is instantaneous, transformation is a process. For this reason, the person suffering from sin may have to crawl before being able to walk or run. Even for believers the flesh and spirit are still contrary to one another (Gal. 5:17). When you are “born again”, however, you can be confident that He Who began a good work in you will complete it (Phil. 1:6).