Why Great Men and Women Fall

I once innocently asked an old East Indian uncle who took his horses to Juhu Beach in Mumbai for joy rides. “Why do horses wear blinders?” He had a pretty good knowledge of horses and replied, “Horse blinders reduce the horse’s field of vision, and this allows the horse to focus on the road ahead. Horse blinders also keep the horse calm in stressful situations.” The sad part is we humans don’t wear blinders.

Our eyes are directed by our inner desires. Our eyes are so influential that they end up directing our whole lives. When eyes begin to wander, disaster imminently follows.

Lord Jesus taught, “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! (Matthew 6:22-23)

Healthy eyes are governed by the principles of God’s word and that have been feeding on all that is pure and true. On the other hand, unhealthy eyes are so full of everything that the world has to offer that now they cannot see Christ nor His marvellous works.

David rose from humble beginnings, but then he was not careful enough to maintain godly discipline in his latter days. One evening, from the roof (of his palace), he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. (2 Samuel 11:2)

The phrase, “he saw a woman,” carries the idea that David saw her and then looked intently at her for an extended period of time. It wasn’t a quick glance but rather a wandering second look. Wandering eyes will cause you to have the wrong thoughts. It will defile you on the inside, and then the inevitable happened – David fell into sin.

If your eyes have become unhealthy and have been wandering lately, then here is what you must do. Every day, the first thing in the morning, get a fresh vision of God by reading scripture till it fills your mind.

Secondly, spend some time in worship. Worshipping the Lord will cause you to fill your spirit man with the love of God, which in turn will push out the love of the world.

Job knew the danger of wandering eyes and wisely wrote, “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman.” (Job 31:1) This is a simple but profound decision that must be made long before the temptations actually come. Consciously train your eyes to look away from anything you feel is not right. The first look is not sinful. It is the wandering and gazing look that will cause you to stray.

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