“The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.” – Jesus
“What has been seen cannot be unseen…” – C.A. Woolf
I have since ascertained that there were at least two significant benefits for me because I lived through the Eyes In The Boat experience.
I discovered the first practical benefit during my second year at the Academy, when I was assigned to a Coast Guard High Endurance Cutter (USCGC Ingham). While standing a lookout watch at night in the north Atlantic, I found out that my peripheral vision had been trained to such a degree that I could use the rods in my eyes to actually see in almost pitch-darkness. The rods are the low-light photoreceptors in our eyes, and they are generally located around the outer edges of the retina. In order to most effectively use the rods to see in low-light conditions, it is best not gaze directly at an object, but instead look slightly away from the object, and employ peripheral vision to focus on the object. Eyes In The Boat had trained my ability to see in this manner! Because of Eyes In The Boat, I was able to actually focus on and discern objects in my peripheral vision, and I was better equipped for one of the Coast Guard’s primary missions of search and rescue as a result. Over forty years later, I still use this training when I need to see in low light conditions.
But it is the second dividend that I use every day – day in, day out, and constantly. Through the Eyes In The Boat experience, my eyes have been trained to stay focused on what is directly ahead. Because of the discipline that was imposed while I was at the Academy, no matter how silly and worthless I thought it was at the time, I am able to prevent my eyes from wondering to images that I don’t have any desire to see. The discipline instilled in me through Eyes In The Boat helps me every day by keeping me from gazing on pictures that I know would not be beneficial to me as a man who fears God. My relationship with my wife is improved as well, because my vision doesn’t have a tendency to wander.
Brothers, we do indeed face an enemy that seeks to destroy us. And this enemy is aware that we were created with good desires that a good God instilled in each of us. But this enemy seeks to distort the good and healthy desires placed within us by God; and he seeks to divert our eyes from the path and the high calling that God has for each of us. In this modern and “culturally progressive” era, when each of us are just one or two clicks away from entering into a world of lust; when it seems that almost every movie or television show contains graphic images; when we drive down our highways and view billboards that would have been considered vile just a few decades ago – in these days, we must ensure that we discipline everything that we allow to pass through our eyes. Everything! And everything runs the gamut from every site we visit to every movie we watch to every post we read to every magazine or catalog we persue to every online ad that pops up to…well, you get the picture (pun intended)!
What we face as Christian men today living in our current culture in indeed unparalleled in terms of visual temptation. But be encouraged, we served an unparalleled God! And I am convinced that He will help us overcome, if we will simply begin to discipline ourselves, and consistently ask in prayer for His help in those areas of temptation that seem to be too big for us to handle on our own. Seeking inspiration and guidance from His Word will always help us to stand strong; and we can seek out brothers who will pray with us and encourage us as they also bring accountability.
1 Cor 10:13 (ESV)
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Prayer: God, I thank You that Your word tells me that You are my very present help in times of trouble. I ask You, Lord, to be close to me as I discipline my eyes away from those things, those images, that are not pleasing to You. Thank You, God, for helping me to be an overcomer in this area of my life, in Jesus Name, Amen!
