A Plank In Your Vision

Wednesday, June 3

Matthew 7:3–5 (NIV)

““Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Devotion

What has gotten into your vision? What has kept your eyes from seeing? What has blocked your eyesight so that you can no longer see? Could it be that what we have allowed in our eye gates and in our hearts has led us away from seeing truth, from seeing our own emptiness in our ways, and from seeing the sin that is holding us captive?

What we allow to fester in our hearts (bitterness, unforgiveness, hatred, etc.) can affect us spiritually and distort our vision, even distracting us and getting us off track from the things of God. These things that we allow are planks in our vision. They keep us from seeing. We start looking at others sideways and become so used to the plank in our own eye that we can no longer see or feel it. We must ask God to restore our eyesight—our vision—so that we can see clearly once again.

We sometimes focus so much on the lives of others that we see the specks in their lives. However, we cannot fully see the plank that is causing our own blindness. It blocks our view of our own sinfulness and our own mess.

This is exactly what Jesus is warning about in Matthew 7:3–5—when we focus on the speck in someone else’s eye while ignoring the plank in our own eye.

In the book of Matthew and Mark, Jesus was talking to the Pharisees about this very thing. He even called them hypocrites, blind guides, whitewashed tombs, and teachers who burdened others with rules they themselves did not keep. How can we lead others when we cannot even lead ourselves because of the great plank—the sin that keeps us from seeing the sin in our own lives?

Matthew 23:3 “…For they do not practice what they preach.”

Matthew 23:4 “They pile heavy burdens on people’s shoulders and won’t lift a finger to help.”

Matthew 23:27 “…beautiful on the outside but inside full of dead bones.”

Mark 7:6 “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

Matthew 15:14 “…they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

We, as believers and children of God, must not live this way. It is not fruitful; it keeps us in bondage. We must examine ourselves. We must deal with the sin that keeps our eyes from seeing. How can we possibly lead others if we are blinded by the sin in our own lives? We will not lead others when we do not have clear vision to see where we are going.

Let the Word of God be a mirror so that we examine ourselves and ask God to examine us, to restore our sight so that we may be used by Him to lead others into truth.

Lamentations 3:40 “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.”

Let’s stop looking outward at everybody else and what they are doing, and look inward. Check your heart and ask God for help in whatever area of your life that is distorting or blinding your vision.

Psalm 139:23–24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Today's Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,

Search my heart and show me anything that is clouding my vision. Remove every “plank” of bitterness, pride, unforgiveness, or hidden sin that keeps me from seeing clearly. Forgive me for the times I’ve been quick to judge others while ignoring my own need for grace. Cleanse me and renew a right spirit within me. Let Your Word be my mirror and Your truth my guide so I can love others well and lead with integrity. In the Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Apply It Today

Practice humility by assuming you may not see the full picture. Not every issue you notice in others is yours to fix—some of it is yours to surrender.

Resources

• Watch the message, “Flies in the Ointment,” and discover what could be disrupting your peace without you noticing.

• Daily Heart Check Prayer: “Lord, show me anything in me that is not like You today.”