GOD'S BREATH PUBLICATONS

Thirsty Eyes

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© August 28, 2003

 

Our eyes are very revealing. We show the full range of our emotions and intentions with our peepers. Anger, love, sensitivity, deception, hate, envy all can be discerned by looking into the eyes of an individual. There's a saying, "The eyes are the windows to the soul." There is basis for such a statement in God's Word. Scripture is full of references on how the eyes relate to our spiritual condition. God knows that our eyes can reflect the condition of our heart, mind and soul. He also knows they direct our actions which are motivated by our desires. In the single book of Proverbs alone there are numerous verses indicating how our eyes seek what is in our heart and communicate with others what lives within our soul.

 

Proverbs 6:17 and 30:13 tell us that there are seven things the Lord hates and one of them is haughty or arrogant eyes.

 

Proverbs 26:5, 12, 16, 28:11 and 30:12 speak of how we can be deceived by what we see with our eyes and when we lean to our own limited sight.

 

Proverbs 6:25 reveals how the eyes of others can lead us astray as they communicate desires that should not be pursued.

 

Proverbs 27:20 states how our eyes are never satisfied in seeking our will that is driven by our pervasive selfishness.

 

Proverbs 3:7, 4:25, 23:6 instructs us how important it is to keep our eyes focused on the scriptures for proper spiritual living as God's children.

As an optometrist I am aware that the majority of our sensory input comes through our sense of sight. Recently I was blessed with something I saw with my own eyes. The other day a lady came into my optometry office and while I attempted to serve her needs, she took a seat in my waiting area. On a table nearby were copies of various homilies that I had written and she picked one up to read. Later, when I came over to talk with her, she had the most amazing look in her eyes. Her eyes looked as if they had found something of extreme value. They reflected the emotions of a heart that had been exposed to ultimate truth. They communicated to me that God's Spirit had touched her very soul. She spoke the following words in the most sensitive and inquisitive voice, "Did this come from your church?" I explained that I write Christian homilies each week and try to communicate God's word to people. I told her that I could send her copies of them each week if she wished. She quickly began writing down her address for me.

 

I will never forget the look in her eyes and the words she spoke. Her eyes reached out to touch mine and they told me that through my meager attempts to share God's message, God's Spirit had touched a human soul. The reason for her response was not in the quality of my writing, but in how the Holy Spirit spoke through it to work in her life. My purpose in writing homilies like the one you are reading now is to strive to communicate God's truth. While I am not the best of writers by any means, I know that God uses me in numerous ways no matter how limited my abilities. I know that it is not by might, power, talent or skills that people are reached for His Kingdom, but by His Spirit (Zechariah 4:6). I also know that God uses what appears to be foolish and simple means to put to shame the wisdom of the world (1 Corinthians 1:27). I felt most privileged to witness this woman responding to the ministry of God's Spirit. Here in a small town office, through the writings of a child of God, the ancient one, the omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent Lord of the universe had reached out to draw someone to Himself.

This experience caused me to remember another experience I had many years back in college. Over a period of several months I had been witnessing to some guys on my wing in the dorm building. They were "boozers" as you might say, getting drunk almost every other night and participating in everything associated with a worldly life at that time. One night in a discussion about Jesus, I sensed that one of them was very close to seeking Christ as their Savior. I shared God's message of hope and salvation and looked into this young man's eyes as he said the words that betrayed what was in his eyes. I could see in his eyes that he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that what I told him was the absolute truth. His eyes communicated to me the longing he had to have a relationship with the King of Kings. But, his mouth spoke the words that denied his need. He declined the free gift of salvation that Christ offered him. I was disappointed that he had not pursued the truth that he had acknowledged by the look in his eyes, but I knew that he had made his choice.

 

So here we have the stories of two seekers. One seeker was a middle‑aged woman who found God's message within the writings of a Christian man. She felt God's Spirit touch her heart and knew she needed to pursue the Lord Jesus who could fill the void of her life. The other, a young college‑age man witnessed the truth in spoken words, felt the Holy Spirit tug at his heart, but exchanged a relationship with a loving Savior for the temporary enjoyment of the good life. Both of these stories involved people who had eyes that thirsted for God. Their parched souls were reflected in the look in their eyes. But each chose a different path. One chose to drink from living water, the other from the polluted fluid of this world.