Dry Eyes Bring Dark Days

We read in Luke 11:35;

“Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.” KJV

“Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness.” NASB

I think this is a better translation:

Luke 11:35 "So then [in a similar manner] watch out that the light that is within you is not shaded or obscured."

To grasp the full meaning of this verse, we must also consider the whole context, so here is the immediate context of the subject.

“No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is also full or darkness. Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.” (Luke 11:33-35) NASB

This statement also appears in the context of Matthew chapter six.

“The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” Matt 6:22,23

The statement made by Jesus in verse 35 of Luke 11 and verse 23 of Matt 6 does not at first seem to have much to do with the surrounding context, but I think the key is in Matt 6:21.

“for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

So Jesus first tells us in Luke 11:33-35 that if a man’s eyes are clear (healthy) his body is full of light. If you have good eye sight, light enters your body. On the other hand, if your eyes are bad (diseased), your whole body if full of darkness. In other words, no light enters into a blind mans body. This is, of course, reveals a deeper, spiritual truth.

I believe the primary spiritual meaning of light in the scriptures refers to God’s Word and the illuminating power of God’s Word, is what we refer to as revelation. This light is contained in the believers heart.

The light that Jesus refers to in our passage is the revelation of God burning in our hearts where the Spirit of God resides. So now Jesus is saying that after the light of the New Covenant, who is Jesus, enters our hearts, we must be careful not to put a shade of the Old Covenant over the revelation of the New Covenant. If we shade this revelation with the law and religion of our understanding, the eyes of our hearts will be blind, and will be full of darkness, and we will live in that place of little joy, peace and power. 

So many Christians are living in that place today. They have a form of godliness but do not know the power and the fullness of the gospel. They live a religious life of performance under the law while professing themselves to be wise, all because they are shading the true light of God’s Word from entering their understanding. And, if that light is to be seen by others who need Christ, then it must first be seen by the eyes of our own understanding. This is what Jesus is saying in this passage. 

If we cannot see our way out, or through, then we must be suffering from a dimmed light source. We can only wash the windows of our soul by weeping before The Lord, so that we may see clear enough to say as Paul said, " ..follow me, as I follow Christ." Let me, oh Lord be able to make this profession. 

WP