This is the
time of year – for a couple of weeks, or maybe just a few days – when many of
us can feast on a wonderful variety of golds, oranges and reds as leaves of the trees turn colors before finally turning loose. On a recent trip to Columbus,
Ohio the autumn hues were at their peak, and driving back home through the
hills of Kentucky I felt tempted many times to stop the car so I could capture the
seasonal array with my camera.
It’s hard to
rank our five senses in order of importance or preference, but eyesight has to
be at or near the top, especially at times like this when Mother Nature (I
prefer to give credit to God) creates such a wondrous panorama. I was reminded
of this recently while talking with a friend about eye problems he’s dealing
with that likely will require specialized medical treatment. The thought of
losing one’s sight, or having it markedly diminished, is not a pleasant
prospect.
 |
| Few sights are more spectacular or delightful than the splendid colors of fall. |
With
Thanksgiving and Christmas drawing near, the sights of the season will only
intensify in splendor. Creativity, both natural and manmade, will again be
taking center stage.
There are
those, of course, who would contend such majestic vistas are merely the
culmination of countless eons of time, chance and chaos. Frankly, I don’t have
enough faith to believe such foolishness. I’m convinced the wondrous sights we
feast on daily are integral to God’s divine plan, and have been from the
beginning.
In Genesis 2:9 it says, “And
the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eyes and good for
food.” And why were they made “pleasing to the eyes”? So we would find them
attractive and be drawn to them. They were part of His way of providing food,
and as the first man and woman approached the eye-pleasing vegetation, they
discovered equally appealing fruit and, holy moley!, found that it tasted good
as well.
However, at the same time God was telling us that just
because something catches the eye, that doesn’t mean we have the right to lay
claim to it. This was the case with “the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”
He told Adam and Eve, “You are free to
eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:16-17). They probably initially answered,
“Yes, Lord,” but before long began wondering what was so special about that
particular tree that God didn’t want them to touch it. It might even have been
the most splendid-looking tree of all in the garden.
Like little children today that are instructed not to touch
something, the first Mr. and Mrs. defied their instructions and sampled the
forbidden fruit anyway. And the rest, as they say, is history. To this day we
find ourselves being tripped up by the attractiveness of things we see that we
know we’re not supposed to have. One of the 10 commandments even states, “You shall not covet…anything that belongs
to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:17), because God knows if we see something
that appeals to us – whether it’s someone’s car, house, golf clubs, or even
their spouse – we’re inclined to declare, “I want that!”
Job in the Bible is remembered for enduring great losses and
suffering with “patience,” but in defending his actions to his friends, he
acknowledged the perils of responding to what he saw without restraint. He
declared, “I made a
covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman” (Job 31:1).
Both men and women
are influenced by all senses, but studies have shown that men are especially
affected by sight. This is one reason 1 John 2:16 warns against “the lust of the eyes…(which) comes not from
the Father but from the world.” The Bible tells us it’s acceptable to
appreciate beauty in all its forms, but we’re to “keep our eyes to ourselves”
and limit looks of desire to our spouses only.
No comments:
Post a Comment