Turn my eyes away!
May 14, 2020
Psalm 119,37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.
Our eyes are important. Our eyes are the door to the soul. What we see creates thoughts and can awaken all kinds of desires within us. We are strongly influenced by what we see. Unfortunately, we are not always as aware of this and look at things we should not have looked at. In our culture, we are bombarded with pictures of young and old that we could benefit being spared from. We are exposed to nudity and worse in many media. Pornography is easily accessible and captures many in its devastating web.
"Turn my eyes away!" It is a prayer that we must pray many times a day. "Let's not get be caught by what's worthless and empty!" God has blessed us with eyelids so we can close our eyes and not look at what is ugly and harmful to us. We can turn our eyes away. And we can ask for help to do that.
Job made an agreement, or a covenant, with his eyes that he should not look at any girl (Job 31: 1). It was a smart deal that helped him not to sin. Jesus also made it clear that the eye could tempt us to sin. He said that anyone who looks at a woman with a desire for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Therefore, he said that we had to take a radical action to prevent the eye from causing us to fall or give in to temptation..
The Bible speaks of the empty life we have inherited from our forefathers. That is worldly glory, lust and delight in what is corruptible and harms life with God. All this we will turn our eyes away from, and rather ask God to refresh us and fill us with joy as we walk in His way. God's way always leads to life and what is good. Living in accordance with God's Word always brings joy. It is wise to turn our eyes away from what will derail us, and rather to focus on the purpose God has planned for us.
"Help me turn my eyes away from illusions and empty dreams, so I always hunt for what's true. Let my soul be soaked with life when I walk on your paths.”