Matthew 6:22-24 (NIV): “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.”
What Jesus was referring to in verses 22 & 23 are a “single eye” (good), and an “evil eye” (bad). The difference between these two is shown in the next verse.
A single eye is an eye that is focused on a single object: God. The person with a single eye, a good eye, focuses solely on Him and on what His agenda is. And because their attention is riveted on God alone, their whole body becomes filled with the light of His presence.
The person with an evil/bad eye, is the person who is either focused on what is evil, which will immediately fill their body and mind with darkness, or they are a person whose eye is not single-focused. They try to serve two gods, the true God and Mammon (the worlds riches).
The person who tries to serve God while pursuing the things of this world, whether money, possessions, position, or power, will sooner or later come to a fork in the road that will make them have to choose one or the other. The two paths, devotion to God and pursuit of the world’s riches, ultimately lead to two very different destinations, and are not compatible. The typical reaction to the fork in the road is compartmentalization: worshiping God and seeking to follow His agenda at certain times or on certain days, but devoting themselves to the pursuit of Mammon the rest of the time. The result is a soul just as dark as if there was no focus on God at all.
The fact is, when a person comes to God for salvation, they must recognize His ownership of them from that moment on. Their eyes must be single, focused on God “as the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress” (Psalms 123:2a NIV). All other things, all other pursuits, all other priorities must go away, or they will end up in conflict in that person’s heart, causing them to have to decide over and over again which agenda they will follow. As Jesus simply put it, “You cannot (not “should not” or “better not,” but “CANNOT”) serve both God and Mammon. (worldly riches)”.
To some this may seem harsh or unrealistic, that they would have to lay aside their own plans and dreams and take up God’s agenda solely. But it is no coincidence that this passage immediately follows the paragraph saying “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (6:21). No treasure of the world will ever be so sweet to the soul as serving God with all of our heart. No goal will ever be so satisfying to achieve as the kingdom goals that He will set for each of His people. And no worldly success will ever match the heart-gladness of finally hearing Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant…Come and share your Master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21 NIV).
Father, I have lived both ways. I have pursued the things of this world while compartmentalizing my relationship with You, and I have served You with a single eye. And I can testify that nothing that this world has to offer can hold a candle to the blessings that You regularly pour into my life as a whole-hearted, single-eyed servant of the most high God. Amen!