This week, in our devotionals, we are focussing on Luke 11:33 - 12:3. Today, Jesus teaches the principle that we are transformed by what we allow to teach and inspire us - both light and darkness mould us.
‘Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness.”’ (Luke 11:34)
Lesson: If we allow the light of Christ to shine on us, the light of Christ will shine from us. If we allow darkness to overshadow us, the shadows of darkness will be cast by us.
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Your eye is the lamp of your body
If you’ve ever driven along a road at night, you will often see what are called ‘Cats Eyes’. These reflect our car headlights. Their reflection helps to keep us on course. They help us to avoid collisions by showing where the middle of the road is. However, Cats Eyes have no inner light, they only reflect light. Likewise, here, when Jesus says, ‘your eye is the lamp of your body’; He, it seems to me, is talking about how our eyes are like ’Cats eyes’ that reflect what is shone onto them. Like windows, to use a different analogy, that allow light to shine into the house so we are to be filled with the light of Christ. We are being commanded to be filled with light - enlightened- through opening ourselves up to the light Jesus’ Word; allowing it to shine into the eyes of our hearts, filling our lives with Jesus’ light. The principal is that what we allow to shine into our intellect, what we choose to believe, will be reflected back from us.
This reminds us of what 2 Corinthians 3 teaches about how Spirit transforms us from:
‘Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.’ (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)
We are being told that we are transformed by the Holy Spirit into the image of Christ as we ‘contemplate the Lord’s glory’. As we worship Him and meditate on Him through His truth, The Holy Spirit transforms us. As we allow the light of Christ to shine on us, the light of Christ is shine from us! This is true of all Christians! All Christians have had ‘the veil removed’ so that they believe in Christ. To bring it back to today’s text, all Christians are allowing the light of Christ to fill their eyes. However, we all need to be encouraged to remain faithful in allowing the light of Jesus’ Word to fill us and to keep ‘contemplating’ His glory and so be transformed - Sanctified - more and more.
Response
If we allow the light of Christ to shine on us, the light of Christ will shine from us. If we allow darkness to overshadow us, the shadows of darkness will be cast by us. If we want to shine the light of Christ to our friends, family, colleagues… we must allow the light of Jesus’ Word to shine on us constantly. The principle here is that we take on the nature of that which we allow to inspire us, so let’s be careful to refuse the inspiration of darkness, but be inspired by light.
COMMUNITY GROUP NOTES AND STUDY
1. Notices
It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News.
2. Icebreaker
How has God been speaking to you from His Word this week and how has this helped you?
3. Worship together
Let’s begin our time together by lifting our eyes and hearts to worship our great God. Perhaps you have readings and songs that you would like to use together. Let’s be open to the gifts that the Spirit wants to give in order to encourage one another.
4. Study and pray together
Our message from our series in Luke on Sunday was based upon Jesus’ teaching from Luke 11:33-12:3. Here, again, Jesus is teaching us the importance of loving His Word - His voice - which He likens to raising up a light so that it can shine on us and then, in turn, shine from us.
Please read Luke 11:33-36, and discuss:
Did God speak to you about anything specifically from Sunday’s message?
11:33 - In what ways can we put the light of the gospel and God’s Word ‘on a stand’ in our own lives?
11:34 - What does it mean to have ‘healthy eyes’ and what will this lead to?
11:35 - What are we to ‘see to’ and how do you do this?
SIV - 11:36 - What will the enlightening of the gospel and God’s Word mean for our involvement in Jesus’ mission?
SIV - Do we have any stories of how we have ‘Served, Invested, and inVited’ recently?
SIV - Spend some time together talking and praying about who and how you are seeking to bring your community to Jesus.
Let’s pray together that, this week, we will have opportunities to SIV; and pray for anything else that's come out of our time in God’s Word.
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