In the New International Version of the bible there is a scripture that reads, “If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.” In the King James Version the same scripture reads, “if, therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” And lastly the New American Standard Translation tells us, “if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.” Whether the eye be good, single, or clear, there is no contradiction. These are all in total harmony. Simply the saying means this: If your eye functions well, then you will see but a single thing, and clearly. Yes, this is what will occur when you lift your head towards heaven to observe Him on His throne.
Or let us think on the words of the renowned King David. “I will lift up my eyes to the hills – From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.” When we lift up our eyes like King David, and our vision is clear, it will be God only that we will see – nothing more. That vision of Him will in turn fill our whole person with light - soul, body, our very spirit. And more than any other day in the history of the church must we walk with our vision raised. The times demand it.
On the other hand, what if our vision is not clear? Then it is not clear because the eye has not been trained to see only Him. It sees other things besides Him. Therefore our vision is clouded. And our vision can very easily become clouded because of three small words; just three words can totally disarm Christians from all their weaponry. It is a tool of the enemy so light in weight, and paper-thin, that he can slip it under a door that’s been closed to him. If however we should pick the deadly thing up, it will explode in our hands. These three simple words are, “But what if…?” Any number of things can come attached: “But what if the gospel isn’t really true?” Or, “The gospel is true, but what if it’s not for you?” “But what if you blasphemed the Spirit of God when you committed that sin?” The list can have no end. They are those badgering doubts that enter in that we rarely if ever speak about to others. And it is when we take these questions into our bosom and ponder them, when we give them a lodging place for a time, that our vision turns cloudy and is no longer clear. This is because our eyes have been made weak. Suddenly we find that we’ve ceased from lifting our heads to behold God in the heavens. Thus the whole body is no longer full of light, but darkness has set in.
There is more than just the “What ifs …?” There are all of the attractions of this life – those very transient clouds without water that tend to draw us away from what is eternal. The more we walk with this horizontal vision, the more difficult it becomes to lift our heads so that we can behold what real truth is. Again our vision has become clouded; our eyes have once again been made weak. And just as in the case of the “what ifs” the light of our entire person has been dimmed. So many are the enemy’s lies that cause us to wonder. So many are the worldly attractions that can lead us to imbibe. But to train the eye to focus on One Great God with whom all things are possible, is to break in pieces every weapon formed against us, and against His gospel.
It was at the end of a Sunday evening service many years ago that I went up to the altar to pray. As I knelt I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see who it was. An elderly man that I only knew as “Rich” knelt behind me. Rich was a seasoned soldier of the Lord, and very wise concerning the scriptures. To this day I really don’t remember what he prayed for me. But what I do remember is the very first words he spoke before he ever began to pray. I still think of those words from time to time. They have never left me and they never will. “Joe,” he said, “there are many voices out there.” He had hit the nail on the head. I was at the altar because I wanted God to show me if a voice that I had recently heard was speaking the truth or a lie. But he didn’t know anything about that. He only knew what was given him to say. This was a man surrendered, and available to the Spirit. Suddenly I knew that what I had heard was told to me by a lying demon. Yes, and there are many voices out there, voices that serve to tear down the walls of faith that have been built up around us by the Holy Spirit. They have been built by God, but only in accordance with how we have cooperated. In other words we are co-workers with Him. And the height and the width and the depth of those walls depend a lot on how much we have put into the project. Now one thing we must understand is this: as goes the fortress of faith that’s been erected all about us, so also goes our hope. And it must be a healthy hope that casts our vision into the heavens, so that we can see and know for certain that we shall abide with our God in His kingdom forever and ever. Nothing more needs saying, for this is the victory, and it is the victory for all times and seasons. To live in this state of thought is to live always fortified in our hearts and our minds.
There are however some things that would hinder us from keeping our hope cast far beyond the stars, as God would have us to. They are all of the “what ifs..?” It is these that are in actuality the many voices that Rich spoke of. Each one’s goal is to tear away part of the walls of faith that serve as our protection. But as I already stated, “As goes our faith, so goes our hope.” And so if we are deterred long enough by the “what ifs..?” then not only may we lose a good portion of our fortress of faith, but hope will also suffer. And it is when we lose hope that we are defeated, cast down, without strength, and oppressed. If it should grow worse we despair of life, even as it happened to the apostle Paul in Asia. He too was human. What is the answer then? All that I have written, I’ve written to come to this very point. Plain and simple, the answer is that we must come to the place where we’ve learned to believe but one thing; to behold one vision; to hear one voice; and therefore to live daily in one victory. Will it be easy? Never. But if we can believe, then it will be this One invincible Warrior that will ever stand against an innumerable army. For against Him the great number is without strength; this is because they are without truth. These are the many voices that lie against God. And our faith is the only thing that will cause them to fall away so that they stand no longer. Only the Maker of the heavens and the earth must always remain. He is the Beginning. He is the End. Still beyond these He is Eternal. And it is the Lord, the One Great God, who is our final victory.
Will sorrows come? Will sufferings abound? Two thousand years ago we were informed that in this present life they would be our portion. Here we are crucified with Christ as the scripture tells us. We join with Him in His sufferings for a while. But it is always important for us to remember that this age is a passing one. It was never intended by God to remain. But the age to come is forever and for all times. And though now we are crucified with Christ, we are told that we nevertheless live. It is then for the man within us who lives, to keep his head lifted, to behold his God upon the throne, to do so until all that assails us passes away. Then there will truly be one vision to set our gaze upon; one voice for us to hear; one victory to always stand in. Then will the eye be single; then will the eye be clear; then through unending ages will the whole body be full of light.
J. Pecoraro
