This is a test. But it is not only a test. It is a parable. Now, unbelievers (including Neo-Marxists (Note 1)) don’t do parables. It upsets The Narrative. So the light may not go on for some of you. As the lawyers rhetorically say, read at your own risk.
Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! Jesus Christ, Matthew 6:22-23 NLT
Worldview is destiny. How you see is what you get. Life and death. Light and darkness. You choose the outcome when you choose whom to follow. Follow the ranger with the big flashlight and you’ll get back to camp safely. Ignore the ranger with the big flashlight, and you’ll become disoriented, lost, and eaten by a bear. The choice is yours. Whichever route, it’s your eyes that inform your body how to proceed; they communicate to your heart and soul which way to go.
Of course, no one who ignores the light thinks they’ll end up as bear food. They believe their path is better. Or at least easier. Either way, in the darkness, they are unable to discern that it leads straight into the the lair of the bear.
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). In effect, He told His listeners that if they wanted to make it out of the woods alive, they’d do well to follow the one with the flashlight.
The Pharisees were incensed by Jesus’ claims. They asserted their unmatched knowledge of the woods and wanted to know who made Him ranger. They questioned Jesus about it while a crowd was listening. And, based on His answers, many in the crowd believed Jesus was indeed the Light of the World. And because they made the choice to follow Him, they had the light.
That’s how it works. In that order. When you choose to follow Him, you have the light because He is the Light. He’s the one who gives you the ability to see the path and perceive your surroundings as they really are. There is no do-it-yourself home remedy for healthy eyes and right perception. Jesus is the only one who can make you see.
Once your eyes are healthy, everything is healthy because what you perceive affects your entire being. Jesus said in Matthew 6:22 “When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light.” Similarly, a doctor shines a bright light into an unconscious patient’s eye to check for brain function. If the eye responds to the light and the pupil constricts, the patient’s brain is okay. If it doesn’t, it’s dead.
Unlike the person without brain function, it’s never too late to make the decision to follow the light. We can choose to respond to the one who chose us first. He is the Light. He knows the way and will lead us safely back to camp.
Prayer: Thank you Elohim for sending the Light into The World. Please make my eyes healthy. Help me to to always see clearly and never to take the Light for granted.
Adapted from The Chosen Devotional, Book One, Amanda Jenkins
Note 1: All Neo-Marxists are unbelievers. Not all unbelievers are Neo-Marxists. Neo-Marxists differ from other unbelievers in that they do neither humor nor irony.