THIS IS TABLE ROCK FELLOWSHIP – PASTOR RYAN LADEN
What Is Within
Over and over the Lord Jesus Christ challenges his disciples to see that while our outward actions are important and meaningful, our motivations that lead us to these actions matter most.
In the passage below, Jesus challenges his people to again look at the inner self, at the causes and motives and not just the measurables. Jesus is again asking, “What is within?”
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Darkness or Light?
There is a common rhetorical flourish that can be seen at work throughout the entire message of the Christian Bible. This is known as the “two ways.” In this simple device, the reader or hearer of the words of the Lord is challenged to weigh themselves by one of two options. They are either in the light, or in the darkness.
The effect of this “two ways” presentation is profound. The faithful person must see that the way that is against the Lord’s will and plan must be denied in favor of the way that is aligned with the heart and nature of God.
Consume
In this message, Jesus Christ gives us two of these forms. The first is that of darkness and light while the second challenges our fidelity to the Lord. The first analogy challenges the would-be faithful child of God to ask themselves which of the two options they are consuming most.
· Are they consuming the light of Christ, the will of God, the truth and glory of the Lord seen in millions of holy and wholesome expressions of his being and love?
· Or are they consuming the darkness of sin and death, the stock and trade of the rebel and idol worshiper?
Shock
These two options are presented to give us a shock to the system. Obviously, all things in life are not so easily divided between that which is darkness and that which is light. But the point of this challenge is to wake up the sleeper.
Those who are going through life without any concern for what they are consuming with their eyes, consuming through the intellect, may well consume enough darkness to lead them to replace the treasure of the Lord with the treasure of the world. And so the challenge is given.
Examples
There are lots of examples of this kind of hyperbolic language meant to challenge the believer, and cause them to wake up from their spiritual malaise. There is one that will come up soon in the Sermon on the Mount that I hope resonates with you today and leads you to be more diligent in regards to what you are consuming with your intellect and your eyes.
“Enter through the narrow gate.
For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Reflection
· As you go through your day, look for examples of the wide way and the narrow way.
· See the lure and temptation of the darkness.
· Do not just follow along because this seems like the easiest way to live.
· Fight for the ability to walk with Jesus and be in the light!
In Christ,
Ryan Laden
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