Tuesday 22 June 2021

Psalm 1

Background

We often hear the phrase ‘a good eye for...’ used in different contexts. People can be described as having a good eye for detail, colour, design or spacial awareness. "You will need a good eye for it" means you will need to be precise and accurate. If you have' a good eye' in sports it may refer to your ball-placement skills. Having a 'good eye' indicates a high level of competency and prowess.

People with a good eye make things seem easy and give clarity to a situation. They can often see what the rest of us cannot. The good eye is bright and full of light and hope, seeing well into a situation and using this illumination to give light to all of the body. Our eyes are given clarity and our bodies are filled with light through the Holy Spirit transforming our outlook, attitude and inner being. Salvation means the whole of the person is transfigured by the life-light of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is shining the goodness of Jesus into every part of a room.

The witness of transformed lives which radiate with the ‘good eye’ of salvation and 'Christ-likeness' mean that the world will see Jesus through his people. Jesus gets rid of demons and all forms of unholiness as we see earlier in the chapter, making space for the person to be full of light. They are blessed with a good eye and have salvation that is full of the Holy Spirit. They are able to witness well to the 'good things' of God, which flourish in the light.

To Ponder:

• What do you have a good eye for? How can you use it in God’s service?
•  The Holy Spirit’s power is evident throughout chapters 11 and 12 of Luke's Gospel. Without the Holy Spirit, we do not have a Trinitarian God. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit and the Trinity are both doctrines held by the Methodist Church. How we perceive things might be a reference to a ‘good eye’.
• Whose eyes have you valued as they have shown the saving love of God in Jesus to you?
• Spend some time praying that the Holy Spirit will give you good eyes so you might have  the clarity of 'Christ-likeness' in your whole being.