Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way. Ps 119:37 (NKJV)
My Eyes – Part 2
Go to PART 1
Ps 119:27 in the Passion Translation says, “Help me turn my eyes away from illusions so that I pursue only that which is true; drench my soul with life as I walk in your paths.”
The NKJV says, “Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things…”
Illusions, worthless things… the Psalmist isn’t talking about sin. He’s talking about things that distract you from your path and halt you in your way. And sure, sometimes these things can be sin, but not exclusively. As we talked about yesterday, it can be difficult to determine what is a wasteful or useful way to spend your time. And it goes beyond turning away from sin. Our lives are meant for so much more than purely sin avoidance. That is absolutely not the focus, and the cross ensures that. (A devotion for another time.)
What is the pursuit of truth? I think we all have a different truth to live while journeying with the True One. For instance, your truth might be mechanics. Being a mechanic is not a job for you, in a way its deeply spiritual because it connects you to your purpose and sets your soul on fire. It's the space where everything makes sense, the challenges are welcome and invigorating, and the vision continues to grow. Your truth is that being a mechanic is the only way for you to live your life. Anything else is worthless, an illusion of your truth. For me, I wouldn’t know the first thing about mechanics. I can’t even change a tire! Mechanics would be anything BUT spiritual for me. It’s definitely not my truth.
How do you figure out your truth? It starts with the simple question and exploration of, what is it that you love? What sets your soul on fire? What are you good at? What do you enjoy? What do you have in your hands to do? Who and what in your world have a need that you could meet? This is where our journey begins, and often where it changes course, and again where we stop and start a new road altogether.
The Psalmist doesn’t say, ‘Look at worthless things and it's all over red rover!” No, He just says, “turn my eyes away…”
If you’re doing something that’s hurting you, turn your eyes away. If you’re pursuing a career that you know is not for you, you can always turn away. If you’re working too hard and not seeing enough beauty, turn your eyes away for a moment… You can always turn your eyes away. And often, it's that very practice that puts us on the right path.
More and more I find myself turning my eyes away from things like greed, consumerism, pleasing others, comparison, labels, revenge… and more… and focusing my whole self on the path set before me. And on that path I pray that God would “drench my soul with life as I walk” it…
That's how you know you’re doing something that's worth it – it drenches you with abundant life. This is not an excuse to do stuff that doesn’t matter – living a life of endless Netflix is not “life drenching.” That would become apparent after a while. But sometimes, a night on the couch and a couple of episodes of “The West Wing” inspires me, recalibrates my imagination and encourages me on my path.
Maybe we all need to do a little “truth searching” and turn our eyes away from things that are illusions of our truth; things that waste our precious time. Like trying to please the crowd, or walk someone else's path. Follow that abundant life; Christ. He will always lead you down the path you were born for.
And that is never a waste of time.
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