Matthew 6:22

Matthew 6:22

In Matthew 6:22-23 Jesus said, "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light. But if your eye be evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness." Jesus is telling us again that it is all or nothing. You either know the Lord or you do not know Him. Each day you can evaluate yourself. You are either committed and determined to follow Him, or you are not. There is no middle ground. No one ever became a follower of Jesus by giving themselves partway to God. In Revelation 3:15-16 Jesus said, "I know your works that you are neither cold nor hot: I would you were cold or hot. So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

The sight of the eyes is used often in the scriptures as being symbolic of spiritual understanding. Before a person becomes a true believer, that person is in darkness: total darkness. They do not understand spiritual things. It is impossible for them to understand the Bible. But once the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ shines into their heart, everything is different; because the light obliterates the darkness. Where once there was darkness and an inability to understand or grasp the things of God, there becomes light: a new ability to believe and perceive spiritual truth. That person has a new understanding, a new capacity for spiritual accomplishments, a new destiny. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away, behold all things are become new."

This same principle explains why some people cannot understand the Bible. The Bible is a spiritual book. It is not a science textbook, although when it touches on areas of science it is 100% accurate. The Bible is not primarily a history book, although it does have historical sections in it and anything that it says about history is 100% accurate. But the Bible is primarily a spiritual book. Most of its messages are meant for spiritual people. It talks about a spiritual God. Remember when Jesus said to the woman at the well, "God is a spirit and they that worship Him, must worship him in spirit and in truth"? A person whose mind is clouded by spiritual darkness will not be able to understand or correctly interpret the Bible. That is exactly why there are so many strange cults that claim to teach from the Bible. First Corinthians 2:14 says this very clearly. "But the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

In Matthew 6:24 Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other." If you have ever worked in a situation where you had to report to more than one person at the same time, then you understand a little bit what the Lord is talking about. Once we become rightly related to God through the Lord Jesus Christ, in a sense we become His servants. We give up our free will and become dedicated to doing whatever He wants us to do. For example, Romans 10:9 says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." This is a classic verse in the Bible that explains very clearly how to be saved. Everyone in the world could be saved by doing what this one verse says!

That formula for salvation sounds very simple, doesn’t it? It is simple, but it is also very profound. It goes to the very depths of a person’s motivation and decision-making apparatus. It says to confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. If Jesus becomes your Lord, then you are submissive to Him. Your desire is to please Him and to do whatever He wants you to do. No one ever became saved without having this total surrender to Jesus Christ.

Jesus would not have given us such a warning without a reason. Be careful. You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon. The word "mammon" refers to material possessions. It is revealing that Jesus would talk about material possessions in this way. You will either serve God, or you are in danger of having your possessions be your God. This is idolatry that we are talking about. Your God is who or what you serve; who or what you live for. One of the Ten Commandments is: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Remember that Jesus told us to pray, "Thy will be done." As followers of Jesus, one of our top priorities is to know His will: what He wants us to do, where He wants us to go, what He wants us to say. A believer will be in real trouble the moment that any decisions are made without seeking and surrendering to God’s will. Remember that Jesus said, "No on can serve two masters."

In the last 10 verses of Matthew chapter 6, verses 25-34, Jesus teaches us about human anxiety. He teaches us what causes a great deal of the anxiety that humans suffer from, and He also teaches us the solution to not being overcome by such fears. We know that God loves us. He wants us to enjoy life. He wants us to be happy. But our joy and our happiness will be severely curtailed if we are overcome by anxiety. President Roosevelt had it right when he said that we have nothing to fear but fear itself.

Let’s read Matthew 6:25. Jesus said, "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body than clothing?" The phrase that is translated, "take no thought for your life", could be more accurately translated; “do not worry about your life.” It is the verb “to worry” that Jesus is using here. He uses this same verb 5 times in these verses: verses 25, 27, 28, 31, and 34. If you have a copy of the New American Standard Bible, you will notice that it correctly translates each of these 5 verses and uses the word “anxious”. I think that the Lord is trying to make a point, don’t you? If He says something 5 times, He must be trying to get our attention. His point is: “Don’t worry’" If you are a believer, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Jesus said that what people so often worry about is food, water, and clothing; in other words, the basic necessities of life. We live in a day when there may be more job insecurity than anytime in modern history. Some companies will downsize, not only because they sometimes need to in order to stay in business, but also to increase profits. The rules appear to have changed, and the average person in the work force feels it. But this new reality in the workplace is really no different than the ideas that Jesus was talking about 2,000 years ago. If it wasn’t downsizing, it would be something else as a potential source for worry. Every generation will have them. Think of the potential sources of worry for people during the depression, or World War II, or the Cold War.

In this passage of scripture Jesus gives the reasons to not worry about having these basic necessities of life supplied to us. The most important reason to not worry, He probably gave last; but I am going to give it first. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus said, "But seek you first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." There are many advantages to becoming a follower of Jesus: the forgiveness of sins, freedom from guilt, a new chance at life, opportunity to fulfill your greatest potential as a human being, hope of eternity, citizenship in the kingdom of heaven; obtaining God as your friend, companion, guide, and protector; and many other things. There are so many benefits to becoming a follower of Jesus. An additional thing that God gives us is this important promise that He will always provide the basic necessities of life. He will provide our needs. We do not need to worry, if we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

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