2. SEE NO EVIL.
This too is almost impossible unless one is blind! However, it is a noble goal. We should strive to minimize the amount of wickedness we witness with our eyes. God gave us eyelids for a reason--to keep all kinds of dirt and filth from entering in!
Christians should endeavor to set their eyes on good, wholesome things. What did Paul instruct in Philippians 4:8? "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things." Let your eyes take in what is good and then reflect on it, not evil.
Consider the wisdom of Job - "I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman?" (Job 31:1). Perhaps we can see a glimpse here as to why God said there was none like Job on the Earth--blameless and upright, one who feared God and shunned evil (cf. Job 1:8). Job determined to control his eyes, and so must we!
The world is wicked; there is no denying it. Indecent dress abounds, lewdness is everywhere, drunkenness dominates many, etc. Evil will come before your eyes even if you're not searching it out! We should definitely not put things before our eyes on purpose that will tempt us. Many movies and TV programs are dangerous. The internet is very dangerous also, but so is going to the beach or pool. Why? Because of immodesty and nudity. There is so much visual filth out there. If you wouldn't show it to your kids, that ought to make you step back and think: Should I be digesting this with my eyes? The wise will remember Matthew 18:3 - "Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." We are to be pure and innocent like children. If we do not control our eyes, we will not be holy as God expects.
I John 2:15-17 reads - "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." The lust of the eyes is a serious problem, and it will condemn a soul to hell! Self-control is a requirement, friends. Have you made a covenant with your eyes yet? James 1:27 states - "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." A big part of keeping oneself unstained by the world is limiting what the eyes take in.
In closing, consider what the Lord said in Matthew 13:13-17, a passage that says a lot about seeing and hearing:
"Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.' But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."
There is a righteous use of our eyes. Let us seek that which is pure and strive to see no evil.
We will conclude this series in our next lesson.