Healthy Hearts and Eyes
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” — Matthew 6:21-22
I remember when one of our prayer leaders brought an ultrasound machine to B4 for a program called Brain Break, an after-school partnership with Barnes Elementary. The kids were amazed as they saw their healthy hearts beating away.
Healthy hearts. They are fountains of prayer, both filled and overflowing with God’s Presence. The Scriptures describe the “heart” as the motivational center of a human soul: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Prov. 4:23).
Everything. You. Do. That includes prayer, worship, and running to Winco for groceries. In some way, these all begin in the human “heart.” Not the sculpted miracle of muscle, pipes, and valves that beats within the human chest. But the beautiful alchemy of our loves and thoughts, an instrument that gives birth to Spirit-led actions.
As Matthew reminds us above, the “heart” has treasures. The things we love most deeply: our families, spouses, children, siblings, and in some cases, a sports team. These treasures, these loves, motivate us in powerful ways. And if Jesus is at the top of our love-list, it is His Spirit that moves us most often. When we speak of a “move of the Spirit,” we are talking about a host of human hearts born along together toward Jesus’ way by God’s love, His Spirit.
The Asbury revival of a few years ago was such a movement. Born of repentance and hunger, it was like watching a few small candles passing through a large room, lighting all others. Picture our Christmas Eve Candlelight tradition. May God move in like manner through our local churches.
And the eyes? Our eyes help us see what’s in our hearts. Healthy eyes admit light. They shine with it. Imagine the sparkle in the young, healthy eyes of a playful child on a sunny day. Billions of photons flood into a marvelously engineered orb, opening up an entire world bathed in glorious sight. That’s the image Matthew evokes for us in Jesus’ words. Light moves in, and we shine.
People say, “I can see it in your eyes” for a reason.
We all want healthy hearts and shining eyes, especially as we age. Billion-dollar industries are built on making us appear healthy on the outside, masking a slow fade on the inside. Cosmetics, aesthetic procedures, and plastic surgery. None of those can ultimately defeat the physically degrading effects of death. Only Jesus does that.
The things that capture our hearts and our gaze really matter to a healthy, vibrant, and deeply-formed life in Jesus. If the true story of His victory, His defeat of sin and death, and His New Creation reclamation project captures our hearts, well, we will live in a wise, godly, and well-ordered manner that shines with reflected glory. Imagine a whole church filled with people like that. Whew!
So, let us pray into the Words of Jesus for our churches, and ultimately for the sake of others.
- For the healing power of hope to reach deep into dusty hearts, leading many to repentance and revival (Hosea 13:14, Ezekiel 14:4-6)
- Against the pride of life that so easily dazzles the eyes and hardens hearts (Isaiah 14:12-14; Prov. 10:13)
- For new, well-ordered, and refreshed hearts for God’s people (Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26)
- For the outward, powerful expression of the new-heart-new-life way of Jesus; that this might flow, generation to generation, into the lives of others (2 Cor. 3:2-4, 2 Tim. 2:2)
- For those who preach; that the Word of the Lord would issue from B4 with power and heartfelt effect into the “desert” as we intercede (Psalm 29:7-9)
Love ya!
Pastor Steve