A few weeks ago, we needed to do a little home maintenance – trimming our Live Oak trees. My handy husband and I ventured out into the landscape with chainsaw and safety glasses to lift up the trees. All went well until the last cut! As the last limb came down, I looked up to see the finished product and my eye protection fell off my face as pieces of shaved bark rained down and landed in my left eye.
Let me just tell you that getting a tiny piece of tree bark in your eye is PAINFUL!! Immediately, I covered my eye and ran into the house to douse it with water. This was to no avail. Time and time again, I flushed out my eye, but I could still feel it scraping and stabbing my eye.
Warm compresses and additional flushes later still had no effect, so I went to sleep, hoping that my eye would expel the foreign element out on its own. The next morning, my eye was swollen, matted, slimy, beet red, and aching. Time to see a doctor. Luckily, I got an appointment that afternoon; she removed the irritant and gave me an antibiotic to help it heal.
It took over a week for my eye to feel better and while it was healing, I couldn’t help but think about the words Jesus said –
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.
Matthew 7:3-5
Okay friends, I had sawdust in my eye and it was excruciating! So, a log in the eye – I can’t imagine the pain! But Jesus doesn’t mince words here. Simply put – take care of yourself first before you start helping your brother. And then – help, serve, love.
Well, that’s not always easy, is it? Sometimes, I’m good to help and not be judgmental. But, there are those times that, even though I am helpful, I’m judging. Yep. That “I would never do that!” attitude is dominating my mind. And that 2 x 4 piece of lumber is sticking out of my eye preventing me from seeing the real picture.
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away
Isaiah 64:6
All of us are unclean, unrighteous, and unworthy. That is the real picture. We all shrivel up and blow away like sawdust in the wind. And while we are blowing away, we can be a little judgy.
How do we quit being this way? Seek truth. Know truth. Live the truth.
“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:32
Know what Jesus taught. Apply what Jesus taught. And live it out. Daily. Easy to say, hard to do. We have help, though. Prayer, the Bible, the Holy Spirit – who is, by the way, the Spirit of Truth. This Helper will stand with us and give us wisdom and strength to speak truth and help us discern when we need to address the log in our eye before we discuss the sawdust in a friend’s eye.
And then – help. Serve. Love. Selflessly.
Yes, it’s hard. No, I’m still working on it. Probably will be my whole life. But I have help. And I’m seeking truth.
My eye? It’s still red but the sawdust is gone. Hopefully the plank is too. But if you happen to see a 2×4 in my eye, please help me get it out, as I really want to help, serve, and love others unjudgementally.
