Through Whose Eyes?

When I was much younger, I interpreted things a bit more literally than I do now. So understandably, many sayings of Jesus left me perplexed. Like the one below:

“But when you do your giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”

(Matthew 6:3, NET)

It befuddled my young mind to no end: how was my left hand not supposed to know my right hand had slipped a desperate beggar some change?!

Of course I later came to understand that Jesus was addressing a problem that afflicts, and continues to afflict, humanity- the need to appear good before others.

Many times, we take decisions in a bid to impress others or boost/maintain a reputation; we make the mistake of appraising ourselves through the eyes of other people. But we often forget that human eyes are so myopic, and can’t see into the haze of time, talk less of eternity.

But there’s someone who sees the beginning from the end- God. He also sees the inside and the outside. If there’s anybody we should be seeking to please by following His way, it’s someone whose eyes have seen your end. And it is through those eyes that you must look at yourself.

It is those eyes that you must be conscious of as you make your day to day decisions. Because those eyes that run to and fro the whole earth (2 Chronicles 16:9) also run through the entirety of your being, and sees clearly, the reasons why you do the things you do.

Don’t live life trying to please others: you’ll never succeed at this, and there’s no reward for it. You do have a better chance of pleasing God.

How God sees us and what He expects from us is all captured in His word. His word is the only “peer pressure” we must yield to.