The Eye is a Lamp...

Hi friends,

In Luke 11:33-36, Jesus teaches his disciples using the metaphor of a lamp. He starts with the familiar teaching about not hiding a lamp under a bowl, but rather putting it on a stand so that all can see its light. He then speaks about the eye as the lamp of the body. If the eyes are healthy, then the body is full of light. But if the eyes are unhealthy then the whole body is full of darkness. This of course could be a way of explaining the effect of blindness on the human body - if the eyes don't work or are unhealthy, then the whole body is in darkness. But Jesus is talking about more than the physical body. He goes on to say that it is possible for the light in us to be darkness (which makes no sense when talking about literal light).

When meditating on this passage of scripture I was struck by how what we let in through our eyes can bring either light or darkness into our body. In particular, I'm thinking about what we look at on screens - both large and small. What we consume through social media, news sites, television programs and movies brings either light or darkness into our lives. The question is, are we aware of whether we are letting in light or darkness? I know for me, it is far too easy to spend time looking at my phone unthinkingly, not being careful to pay attention to whether what I'm letting into my life is light or darkness. The only way to truly know the difference between light and darkness is to draw near to the source of light: Jesus Christ. When we draw near to him through prayer, reading of Scripture, and listening to the body of Christ, we are more able to see darkness for what it is and reject its influence in our lives. By opening our eyes to the light of Christ, our whole lives are filled with light.

I painted the background of this page with acrylic paints, sponging a little white paint over the top and adding some stencilling with Nuvo mousse. The lamp from Shine Your Light was stamped on watercolour card, watercoloured, cut out and glued to the page. The text was stamped with a combination of Art Deco Alpha and Happy Alpha, and I added a piece of Faith Wordfetti at the bottom. Here are the sets I used:

Let's pay attention to what is entering our body through our eyes - are we letting in light or darkness? Let's choose light. Let's choose to open our eyes to God's word and let his word flood our lives with light.

Be blessed...

x Amy x