I am Bill’s Eyes

Mark Roberts

Everyone has two. Some have four. If you lost us your world would be dark and difficult. You can paint around us to “enhance your beauty” (2 Kings 9:30). A touch from Jesus heals us (Matthew 20:33). We make the world come alive with color and beautiful scenery. We gave Memory those wonderful pictures in bygone days he now uses to stir up emotions. We show our owner the faces of people he loves. We are Bill’s eyes.

We like to think that of all the proofs for the Creator’s existence we stand alone. Heart doesn’t agree (after all, he is a pretty impressive pump), but there is just something about sight that amazes. It is an enormously complicated procedure that takes an incredible amount of very complex apparatus to pull off. Evolutionists speak of how a “light sensitive spot” was the beginning of vision. But why would such a spot even develop? Then, to try and believe from a “spot” the remarkable eye, with all its varied abilities and wonders, could randomly evolve truly stretches the imagination past the breaking point. In many ways, the proofs of God’s existence are not just right before your eyes, they are in them.

If you don’t know about the wonders of your eyes just let them read a little further. Let us start with the cornea. The cornea is the transparent covering over the pupil (what you see as the black hole in the center of your eye). Think about that for a moment: the cornea’s cells are transparent to let light in. Neat, huh? The light goes through the lens which focuses it on the retina on the back of the eye. The retina contains 100 million rods and 7 million cones. These are special cells that determine color and make the actual image that is sent up to ol’ Brain for him to interpret, understand and act upon. By the way, your eyes are made even more useful by straps of muscles attached to them that move them around, maximizing the field of vision and letting you see more without having to turn your head. Further, because your eyes are mounted side by side you have a huge field of vision, and the brain can compare the two images it receives and develop “depth perception,” giving you a true three-dimensional look at the world. If all that sounds complicated you should know that was a simplistic explanation! There is really much more to us. We can change the size of the pupil opening to let more or less light in. We can focus light from near or far so your vision is actually quite good up close or far away. To top it all off, we can see directly in front of us while at the same time observing things, particularly motion, on the periphery. The eye has been called the most amazing and versatile camera ever constructed. Solomon was right: “The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made them both” ( Pr 20:12). God exists, and we are wonderful proof of that truth.

As useful as we are, Bill doesn’t think about us much except when he has an eye examination and has to pay for new glasses. Yet we do a lot for him. If we were gone he would notice instantly because we provide the crucial data he needs to live and survive. Bill heavily relies on us as his most important sense. We detect danger, tell him what is coming up, look for familiar faces, and even watch sports. But there is even more we do.

For example, we can read the Bible. The Scriptures are God’s Word and essential to our salvation (2 Tim 3:14-17). However, they will not just jump in your head on their own. You must get them into your Mind if you will benefit from them. The means to do that is via reading, the ability to recognize symbols that stand for sounds, make words, and understand meaning. So Paul says, “When you read this you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ” (Eph 3:4). Reading the Bible may be the greatest and best use of eyes. We provide the link then between the mind of God and Bill’s mind!

We also can see needs. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus so he worked to put his eyes in the right position to do so, but when Jesus saw Zacchaeus in that tree all kinds of good things happened (Luke 19:1-5). The Good Samaritan saw the injured man in the ditch (Luke 10:33). Pharaoh’s daughter saw the basket with Moses in it (Exo 2:5). In all of these stories seeing something was the beginning of an act of compassion or teaching. Of course, Jesus says that the priest and Levite also saw the man in need (Luke 10:31-32) and didn’t help him. Sometimes Heart ignores what the eyes see!

That is not always bad. There is a difference in an impression forming on my optical nerves and the Mind really taking that image in and meditating on it. That is why John warns about the “lust of the eyes” (1 John 2:16), but we cannot really lust. Lust occurs in the Mind when what we see is thought about, considered, and even acted on. In 2 Samuel 11:2 the Scriptures say “David saw” Bathsheba and then he sent for her. It wasn’t his eyes that were the problem. It was what he did with the information his eyes provided him. He needed to turn away from that image and put it out of his mind! So Jesus says “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt 5:28). It is the looking to lust that Bill must avoid. By the way, it is not just the sexual imagery filling our society today that Bill needs to turn us from. Materialism often begins in what the eye sees. “Yet there is no end to all his labors, nor is his eye satisfied with riches” (Eccl 4:8). Long ago, when Bill was a small boy, he used to sing in Bible class “Be careful little eyes what you see.” That is not just a sentiment children need!

It is sad when eyes linger on sin and what can induce more sin because we can be put to so much better uses. Apart from reading the Bible perhaps seeing the beauty of God’s creation is the best thing eyes can do. Noah saw the rainbow (Genesis 9:14). Moses saw the Promised Land from Mount Nebo, and he saw it well for his eyes were unaffected by age (Deut 34:7). David tells us the heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1) but that declaration is for your eyes to see.

Interestingly, not only can we be a source of information for Bill, we also give out information about Bill. We can show emotions like pity (Deut 7:16). We can cry as Jeremiah did: “For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears” (Lam 1:16). Your eyes can express pride and haughtiness, something the Lord hates (Prov 6:17). We can even be closed, which is often used in the Bible to mean a person has shut down their reasoning and thinking. That is why Jesus said, “For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them” (Matt 13:15). This is an intentional blindness for which Laodeceia was told they needed eye salve (Rev 3:18).

The Bible does talk about us eyes a lot, doesn’t it? It references both the physical organs of sight as well as using us as a metaphor for what is going on in the mind. It all adds up to the eyes being very important and worth a lot of thought. We wish Bill would give us a little more attention! More than that, we hope he will direct us to look at the right things and to take in the right kinds of information. “Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments” (Psalm119:5-6). What will your eyes see today?