Having an eye of focus

Having an eye of focus

Proverbs 4:25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

Let us look at 6 observations from this verse and look at each one more in
depth shall we?

1) The way in which one’s eyes are told to be focused is right on and straight forward

2) The optimal direction to look and be focused on is the straight forward

3) Looking toward any other direction is less optimal

4) This implies that a person should not look behind them, having their eyes focused on what is behind them.

5) This verse also implies that there should a steadfastness of looking straight forward.

6)This could also be a warning, implying something bad would certainly happen if one didn’t let their eyes look right on and let their eyelids look straight before them.


1) The way in which one’s eyes are told to be focused is right on and straight forward

We are told by looking at this proverb, to look straight before us. We are not suggested, as though it was some casual choice. We are not asked softly, “You know will you please let you eyes look right on and let thine eyelids look straight before thee, please, pretty please, will you do it”. No, this is something that we are commanded to do. O how often do people look at the commandments of the Lord as an option thing! How often do people look at the bible and act like its exhortations and God’s counsel in its text are optional to heed; acting like it is optional to flee from the perverse ways, acting like it is optional to have true repentance, turning away from their sins, and turning to the Lord! How often do people choose to act like God is only there sitting on the clouds of heaven, arrayed in glory, to give suggestions! We are commanded to repent, we are commanded to be separate from the world, as it is written (1 Peter 1:16) “Be ye holy; for I am holy”.

Despite what many people in today’s world of relativism may be saying, God did not just leave us to follow Him on our own terms, our own devices, in our own way of doing things; as it is written (Proverbs 3:5) “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Does God just sit there in the background waving His hands in the air saying “Hearken unto my suggestion“, or does God say rather (Isaiah 30:21) “This is the way, walk ye in it”, giving command for us to follow? Christ Himself said (Luke 6:46) “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Our King certainly, (while our faith in Jesus only is what saves us, not our works) gives commands to us, not the “well take it with a grain of salt” sort of expectation. When a king speaks, aren’t the servants suppose to listen attentively? Aren’t we suppose to listen with sharp heed to the counsel of the Lord? As it is written (Deuteronomy 18:18-19) “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. “ (Acts 3:23) “And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” Let us therefore listen attentively to what the Lord has to say and what our Mighty King commands because when we don’t, we only do it to our own hurt.

2) The optimal direction to look and be focused on is the straight forward

How oft in the bible, in the word of God, are we told to go in a certain way! (Matthew 5:6) “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Let us notice here that there is a direction in which this verse applies, after righteousness, after God who is righteous, to be following and perusing hard after God and learning of the path in which our eyes should be focused. Didn’t Paul say, (Philippians 3:14) “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Didn’t the scripture warn us about the whole concept of relativism? As it is written, (Proverbs 14:12) “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”. Again (Proverbs 3:7) “Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.”

Certainly our focus as a people should be of one that looks toward the eternal perspective, setting our (Colossians 3:2) “affections on things above, not on things on the earth”; pressing toward God, looking toward the end result, looking to seize the prize of the eternal life, that incorruptible crown, and being with the Lord Jesus forever; (Revelation 21:4) “there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” O let us press forward looking toward that heavenly realm, (Hebrews 12:2) “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” pushing straight and certainly having our eyes fixed, our heart fixed, our minds fixed toward our future salvation. (1 Thessalonians 4:16) “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first” and (1 Corinthians 15:52) “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

3) Looking toward any other direction is less optimal

I say truly that any other direction to be marching toward is utter vanity, than to be pressing toward God (1 Peter 1:24) “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away“. How vain is this world that is going to fade away and dissipate in the midst of time! (Isaiah 51:6) “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.” Isn’t this world going to burn under the judgment of God? Aren’t the flames of heaven going to wrap around this earth to consume it with all the ungodly there in?

(Proverbs 21:16) “The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.“ If we should wonder out of the way of life, shall we find life? God forbid! (Proverbs 14:12) “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man”, but that way is going to be or can consist of anything, and I mean anything other that a route to life everlasting. Christ has said (john 14:6) “I am the way, the truth, and the life”; and certainly as many would claim, yet is not true, being moral or considering themselves a “good person” will not get one into heaven. I have asked People why they would go to heaven and one person said because I pray and because I try to be a good person. Well I tell you truly, that he was trying to find some other way to everlasting life because he justified himself by his works. Clearly and sadly, that was an indication that He was Lost.

Relativism is one formidable foe that exist in this world. It is such a big strong hold (but nevertheless can be pulled down using the weapons of our warfare correctly, equipping ourselves with the word of God) that runs ramped in our society and has contaminated minds across the globe. Even people who yes, I am going to say it, call themselves a “Christian”, yet develop their own system of living and will not consult the oracles of God at all in their daily lives, but would rather let it collect dust day by day, and instead will certainly learn the TV schedule for their favorite programming which is what the bible speaks out against, every time; watching the vanity and filth of the world that plagues our society like a festering disease. They don’t mind that they are grieving the Spirit just by setting their eyes upon that detestable stuff: and despite their lifestyle and the way they live, they think that they will still go to heaven!

Yet I tell you truly, God does not call us to be stray children, nay, but rather to be a people that do His will, that are obedient to Him. Am I talking about works salvation some of you might say. The answer, no simply no. Only by Christ , and certainly one who is born again will have substantial evidence of their conversion. There are many ways one can take, but the way of God is the high road and every other way will lead to the low roads of death and hell. Therefore, Let us not even think of going in a way that seems more “favorable” or “may work” because obviously God knows best. (Isaiah 55:9) “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Proverb 1:30-31) “They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.” This is the tragedy that has happened to minds of people, towns, cities, and nations who have forsook the counsel of the Lord. And the destroyer is resting upon them, the wrath of God abides over them. Let us endeavor with assertiveness, that is boldness, being in hot pursuit of the straight path and that optimal way.


4) This implies that a person should not look behind them, having their eyes focused on what is behind them.

If we are constantly stuck in the past, being bogged down by our failures, aren’t we hindering ourselves to progress in a straight line forward? If we look back, aren’t we most likely to start turning crook in the direction that we are going in with our feet? Have you ever ridden a bicycle and looked back, but you kept looking back, and before you know it your direction has changed from straight to crooked, and you crashed into something? When we look back and make the mistake of having our eyes fixed there, we cannot see forward with clarity, as a matter of fact, when you turn back, most of, if not the majority of your view, you vision will be lined toward the back, and at most you see a hairs length of the forward. When we let the past engulfs us in this manner, aren’t we setting ourselves to be snared, bound to make a shipwreck of our faith, crashing into the shores of poverty and destitution? Certainly, this sort of action can be detrimental to the health of our soul and even put a hindrance, an obstacle in our way, weakening our relationship with God! (Luke 9:62) “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

5) This verse also implies that there should a steadfastness of looking straight forward.

Would it be acceptable if I were to say, let me follow after God for a second, for a moment, for a glimpse of a fragment of time? Would it be acceptable for us to put God on the self when ever it was difficult to follow Him due to pressures of the world, persecution, or things of the such? I think not! Isn’t that the definition or at the least one of the characteristics of a person who is lukewarm for Christ; and certainly according to revelation 3:16, certainly they shall be vomited of Christ mouth and rejected by Him. Certainly those spewed out of the mouth of Christ are proud, worldly, unconcerned about knowing the truth, and lived in hypocrisy all their lives, so would they stand for Christ in hardship? No! Did they love Christ? No! Did they love straight steadfastly and fixed? No! And Christ was sick to His stomach at these type of people.

In John 9, I was reading about this blind man, who was blind from birth. Jesus said (John 9:3)“that the works of God should be made manifest in him”, and this was the reason why He was born blind. After Jesus (John 9:6) “spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay”, told the blind man to (John 9:7) “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam”, the guy did so and received his sight. He was later brought to the Pharisees and they questioned him. He spoke to them of the great working that Jesus had done to him. The Pharisees were then in division about Jesus. The healed man even said that Jesus was a prophet. The Pharisees didn’t believe him , so they asked his parents and they said that they didn’t know the means by which their son who was born blind was healed. By looking at John 9:22, we can see that his parents did know that it was by Jesus; but because of the decree the Jews had made, saying “that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue”, they did not say it was Jesus. But later in text, in John 9:31-33 we see the healed man defending his position, taking a stand for Christ, and not backing down from it; and for this reason he was kicked out of the synagogue.

Shall not we be like him who was healed and could see, seeing how by the grace of God, our eyes are open now and we can see; to patiently wait holding steadfastly to the truth and our belief, our faith, our Lord and by the grace of God stand against the jaws of persecution? Though we be ridiculed or mocked, or scorned for our faith, isn’t it always better to stand in victory with Christ, than to subject to the losing world? In a world that would stop at nothing to see us be pulled away from the truth, let us never ever ever ever ever let go. (Mark 8:38) “whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” You can’t love the praise of God and the praise of men equally. You can’t love God and the world. You can’t go to heaven and hell. So (Hebrews 10:23) “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised”.

6) This could also be a warning, implying something bad would certainly happen if one didn’t let their eyes look right on and let their eyelids look straight before them

Now certainly there is a way to follow because Christ made a point of this Himself. Matthew 7:14) “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.“ Certainly after the eyes had drifted from the path, the body is surly going to follow because the glitter, the shine of a snare, a sin, an iniquity, a pleasure, may gain the title of the fixed point of the eye. So the person cast away God, puts off the promises, and even stops perusing God and His truth, and the righteousness which is found in Christ Jesus. But what does the proverb say? (Proverbs 21:21) “He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour.”

Now think my fellow Christians and hearers, if one is not following after God, and His truth, and the righteousness which is found in Christ, what saith this proverb to them that stray? He that follows not after righteousness, He that follows after unrighteousness and wrath (for one that seeks not God’s mercy certainly will abide with God’s wrath perpetually upon them) shall find death, destruction, desolation, unrighteousness, and dishonor. Certainly regardless of what one possesses in this world, the poverty and eternal damnation waits at the door for the those that turn to the right and or the left to step their foot to be rooted in the terrain of iniquity and get caught in its chains, being caught in the snares of death! Hebrews 10:31 “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Proverbs 14:27) “The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.” But woe unto them that choose not the fear of the Lord and woe unto them because they do it to their own demise!
 
Amen Brother,Copper

Help us O God Our Father, to look straight and to ponder the path of our feet; That we may no turn to the right and to the left and that we depart from evil by your power, in Jesus Name, I pray. Multiply your grace and peace in us O God, You are the Strength of Your People. Amen
 
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