Covenant with Mine Eyes

2021-10-11

I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? (Job 31:1-4)

Job’s Covenant with His Eyes

As Job was making his defense to accusatory friends, he stated this. Job took precautions by what he looked at by making “a covenant with mine eyes” (Job 31:1). What exactly this covenant was, whether he averted his eyes when he saw something evil, or whether this was more in his mind, it is not for sure. From the subsequent verses, we see that Job knew that the Lord judges people’s thoughts and actions, and we should recognize the same.

The concept is often applied to pornography, as we see the covenant with the eyes is tied to the phrase, “why then should I think upon a maid.” Amen. It is a death trap and an addiction. However, something that severe is not the only thing that warrants an eye covenant. From this verse, we know that whatever the eye sees, the mind thinks about. He sees the maid, and he thinks upon the maid. The mind can replay what is seen repeatedly for years and causes scars that are burned into the psyche.

Jesus and the Treasure of the Heart

Jesus says these remarkable things about the eye covenant:

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Matthew 6:19-24)

Notice the progression and escalation: You amass treasure, your heart follows said treasure, and the eye looks to satisfy what is in the heart to quench whatever thirst exists there. Thus, more treasure is accumulated. We find that the thirst of the heart can never be satisfied.

However, we can seek treasure that can be on the evanescent earth, or in the impenetrable heaven.

What do you treasure? What are the most important things in your life? Is it the things that God values, or is it something else? Whatever you desire, you will set your eye on things to satisfy your treasure trove. Furthermore, whatever your eye drinks in, you solidify yourself in that position, whether it be good or evil. And whether it be the things of God or the things of the world, it affects your entire mind, the spiritual battlefield.

Furthermore, your “eye” is more than just what you look at, though this is huge in and of itself. The blind are not exempt from this. What are you seeking, and what actions are you taking to satisfy the infinite depth of lust?

Examples

Pornography is one example. It does not have to be explicit to affect you. Something in a movie or an advertisement can suggest immorality is taking place. Stuff like that is enough to pull you away into a world of evil thinking. Walk away, literally, from everything that promotes sexual immorality.

Another example is money and the lust for things. You see other people who are “successful,” either in fact or illusion, and you want their abundance of things and lifestyle. You are pulled into a world of unsatisfaction, and have forgotten how to be, “in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11). I have gone down this path, but there came a day where I had to decide that what I had was enough.

Breaking a Cycle

You really must make a conscious decision to change your treasure and focus your eye on something else. You get rid of the love for one treasure to get true riches. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it” (Matthew 13:45-46). The pearl merchant had to decide if he wanted a bunch of inferior pearls or the superior pearl of the kingdom of heaven. He could not afford both. You cannot serve two masters.