Your heart follows your eyes
Today, I listened to a sermon from my pastor back in Florida. It was on Genesis 13, which tells of the choice Abram and his nephew Lot made to separate, and the beginning of Lot’s trajectory to disaster.
It all began with a lingering look. He looked down at the land near Sodom—beautiful, fertile land that reminded him of what they had left behind in Egypt. He saw that it would benefit him, increase his prosperity. So he chose to go that direction, repeating the story of Eve in Eden, who chose what looked appealing to the eyes. Lot’s trajectory inched him closer and closer to sin, until he was fully committed to it and his life ended in ruin.
When you set your eyes on something, your heart will follow, and eventually the rest of you will too. Just because something looks good does not make it a wise decision.
How, then, are we to know when something that looks good is actually deceiving? How do we know when seemingly innocent choices will set us down the wrong path? How do we spot a gateway to ruin that is concealed behind a beautifully-decorated facade?
Proverbs 22:3 says, “A prudent person foresees danger and take precautions, but the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.” This ties back into my previous post—it truly is helpful to foresee problems and take precautions! But how does one become the sort of person who can foresee danger and know what precautions to take? As I wrote the other day, we don’t always know these things, especially those of us who are still young and relatively inexperienced.
But we are not without recourse when we face decisions whose trajectories we are unsure about. God has given us three main resources.
1. The wisdom of our elders
There’s good reason that in the New Testament, older believers are encouraged to disciple the younger. And looking further back to the Old Testament, especially in Deuteronomy and Proverbs, young people are constantly told to listen to the instructions and counsel of their parents and leaders. When we don’t know what precautions to take or what the results of our decisions might be, these wise elders likely foresee better than we can. What a blessing to learn from their experience!
2. The instruction of God’s Word
Psalm 119:9-11 says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
When we don’t know what to do, we can start with the things that are plainly stated in God’s Word. What does he warn us about that will lead to destruction? We have the entire book of Proverbs to tell us, and the entire Old Testament narratives and prophets to show us. The New Testament also tells us how to live in such a way that brings peace to us and honor to God.
3. The guidance of the Holy Spirit
The most powerful resource we believers have in this era of redemptive history is the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Where before the law was our guardian (Galatians 3:24-25), the Spirit now keeps and guides us “into all truth” (John 16:13). In fact, Jesus even tells us in that same verse that “the Spirit will tell you about the things yet to come”! Letting the Spirit control our thoughts leads to life and peace (Romans 8:5). As God transforms us by the renewing of our mind, we will “learn to know God’s will, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2). God’s will is something we can learn to discern, getting better at doing so over time as more of our hearts and minds are under the Spirit’s guidance.
Using these resources well
Each of these resources requires us to spend time focusing our attention on seeking wisdom and direction. Taking in this counsel guides our thoughts, which shape our hearts, which direct our actions.
In Matthew 6:22-23, Jesus says, “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 connects the eye with the state of our whole body. What the eye lets in fills us and spreads throughout every part of our lives. An “unhealthy eye” can deceive us into thinking the darkness that fills us is actually light. What a sobering thought!
Likewise, Paul urges us to choose carefully how we fill our minds. He follows this with an instruction to put into practice what we have learned from him. Our thoughts indeed affect our actions. Choosing to fix our minds on things that are “true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy” (Philippians 4:8) helps guide us on the path that leads to life and peace (“peace” is the theme of the verses that bookend verse 8). To fix our minds on these things, we should intentionally surround ourselves with people, art, and stories that exude these traits!
So we see that our hearts follow our eyes. It’s my choice: I can fill my mind with an endless stream of stressful, conflicting information that leaves me uncertain where I’m headed and draws me away from the solid rock of truth. Or, I can “gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4). If we fill our minds with good examples and nourishing truths, we grow in our ability to sense the Spirit and our eagerness to follow his leading into a life of abundance and peace.