Floodlight Eyes

FLOODLIGHT EYES

Matthew 6: 19-34

1. “The eyes are the lamp of the body”. As I read those words my mind immediately flashed back to the old Superman comics I read as a kid or even the Superman movie as you would see “the man of steel” able to visually focus in on any object with those laser beam eyes and instantly burn or blast through rock or steel or any tough obstacle.

• Well, the picture that Jesus is giving us here, is not that of a beam of light that goes OUT from our eyes – but rather that radiates INWARD into our mind, our heart, our soul and illumines our inner being – dispelling the darkness inside.

2. I would like you to visualize your eyes as being God’s Floodlights for your body, because floodlights throw light over a large area and can be aimed to put light just exactly where you need it.

• We use floodlights for security – to help minimize crime

• For all kinds of outdoor events and sports games at night

• Fire, rescue, and police all have them mounted on their vehicles

• Good floodlights can make the nighttime as bright as the day

• And good eyes and clear vision will do exactly the same thing within you

3. So how does one come to have this “Floodlight Vision”? Very simply, it boils down to a matter of a single choice – a single decision.

• This is not one of those multiple choice decisions where you can pick and choose from a wide variety of options what you think will best suit you

• Jesus has a way of getting right down to the nitty gritty and reminding us that life is very simply a matter of radically choosing FOR Him or AGAINST Him – of LOVING Him or HATING Him.

• He says “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”

4. Now those seem very stark and extreme terms to us. But what He is saying is that when you compare the loves we may have for God and other things – then the difference is to be as great as night and day or love and hate.

• And God cannot be loved in that sense along with a host of other things – money, pleasure, entertainment, or any other thing.

• While loving other things and even other people may well satisfy and please us and meet our needs for a time, loving God is what fulfills and satisfies our eternal worth and value and purpose and then enables us to live life primarily as a giver rather than a recipient.

• I know this is a mixing of metaphors here but Jesus said that whoever drinks from Him would come to have a well of water bubbling up from within them and flowing out as a channel of refreshment to others and the world.

5. So what transforms you and me into free-flowing channels of God’s blessing to others is first of all choosing to be people of single-minded and focused vision on the One who came as The Light of the World.

• It is a matter of deciding that He and He alone is going to be our treasure and that is where our heart will be also.

• Few human beings have a hard time giving themselves to the things and people that are most important in their lives. Hunters, golfers, fishermen don’t need much of an excuse to bump other important matters from their schedule in favor of an opportunity to engage in their favorite activity. Spending time with the person you passionately love is by no means one of your wearying decisions.

• It is the same way when God is your first love.

6. Now when we have made that choice and keep focused on that choice we will find that an entirely new orientation begins to take place within our lives. As God’s light starts to stream into all the previously darkened and shadowy places within us we start experiencing a transformation in two specific arenas:

• First, we start noticing a new sense of inner contentment and peace

• Second, we start experiencing a new desire and joy for doing those things that bring honor to God and expand His Kingdom – His blessed government within and beyond our sphere of influence

• Let’s briefly look at those two areas:

A. A NEW SENSE OF INNER CONTENTMENT AND PEACE

1. You notice that after Jesus has said that we can really only love and serve ONE Master and we need to choose who or what it will be, He goes on to say, “Therefore…”