UCKG GUYANA

Window of the mind

"As soon as her eyes saw them, she lusted for them..." Ezekiel 23:16

The summer nights were the worst. If we kept the windows shut, we would bake in the heat; if we left the windows open, the mosquitoes would come in with a vengeance. Then in the morning, the fun was to see who had more bug bites - my brother or me. We slept in the same room and waking up to kill mosquitoes in the middle of the night was part of our childhood. And to think that a simple screen fitted into the window frame would have saved our skin from those bloodsuckers...
But we didn't think of screens then, or if we did, we just didn't put any up.
A different kind of window has also been the reason for many people's misery. This window is called "eye." The eye is the window of the mind because it has the power to bring whatever it sees into our thoughts.
Why is it important to know this?
The importance is in knowing that you must decide what you allow your eyes to bring into your mind.
The Bible has so many examples of evil entering people through their eyes that we cannot possibly mention all of them here. Since Satan led the woman to look at the tree in the middle of the garden and "she saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye..." (Gen 3:6) many people have also been deceived by their eyes.
How many times have you bought clothes, shoes, an appliance or any other item, used it only once and then kept it in the closet for the rest of the year? But when you were admiring it in the shop window, didn't your eyes convince you that you really needed it?
Remember that person you started to judge because you saw something you didn't like in him?
We know that before a person practices sin, first he conceives it in his mind. "Each one is tempted... by his own evil desire... Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." (James 1:14-15)
Think of some sin you've committed. Yes, think about it right now.
If you think carefully, you'll see that it didn't just happen on the day or minute it happened. Rather, it was on your mind for some time before you actually did it.
And how did that sinful thought get in there?
Yep, it got in there when you left the window of your mind open. Your eyes saw something; they desired it, brought the idea to your mind and said, "Hey, what if we did this?" And your mind answered, "Hmm, yeah, why not... Tell you what. Why don't you go back and look some more while I come up with a way to do it without getting caught?"
Dangerous game.
We must be careful with what our eyes lead us to think about. If our eyes are good, our whole body will be full of light - but we'll be full of darkness if they are evil, as our Lord Jesus said.
But you ask, "How can I not look? How can I not see something that's right there before my eyes?" The answer is, you can't stop looking or seeing, unless of course you're blind. So then, what can you do to avoid bringing evil thoughts to your mind through your eyes?
Remember the screen? Install one on the back of your eyes.
That means training your eyes to take in what is good and keep out what is bad. God's servant Job did it this way:
"I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl." Job 31:1
How are YOU going to keep out the pests?
Quote:
"Why don't you go back and look some more, while I come up with a way to do it without getting caught?"