Plank in the Eye?

In Matthew 7 and Luke 6 the parable is told “and why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?”  After calling this person a Hypocrite, Jesus instructs us to “First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

This parable has a whole new meaning for me tonight.  I had a left eye experience today that opened my eyes (pun intended).  First I had my annual eye doctor appointment.  As I was complaining about the frustrating process of taking my glasses on and off for each different event, my doctor suggested one contact or mono-vision to help with my aging sight.  I was all in.  I moved from the exam room to the table at the back of the office to practice this new contact adventure.  Putting the contact in was no problem.  This rookie got it in on the first try.  I wish I could say the same for the extraction of the contact.  It took multiple attempts and by multiple, I mean like 15-20.  The assistant was adding drops, double checking that is was still there, and coaching me the entire time.  Because I was such a slow learner, she made me do it again with about the same results.  I went back to the work with my eye red and swollen and not one bit of make-up on the left side of my face.

This event was nothing compared to the antics it took to get the contact out tonight at home by myself.  I worked and worked just like I was instructed at the office.  I could not get it out.  Then I noticed it didn’t appear that the contact was still in my eye.  I picked up my phone and sure enough, I couldn’t read my phone so it had to be out.  Oh no, I couldn’t be that lucky.  It was folded up and lodged up under my eye lid.  You can only imagine the effort it took to get my finger up there to dig the wad of film out.  I actually have a small bruise on my check where I have been digging my fingernails into my face trying to hold my eye open.

I embarrassingly tell you this story because I feel it is comparable to the removal of a speck or plank from the eye in the biblical sense.  Obviously, this story is a metaphor concerning judgement of others. In the last part of the parable, we are instructed to remove the plank from our own eye.  In other words focus on our own faults not others. I have no idea what it would be like to have a plank in your eye, but  I’m here to say, it takes great effort to get something really small out of your eye.  Think back to the last time you had hair or fuzz in your eye and couldn’t get it out.  If you are like me, you rub and rub, look in the mirror, shine the light from your phone in your eye…. everything you can do to get the uncomfortable object out of your eye.

The question is,  do the faults in our lives make us uncomfortable enough that we want them gone?  I ask myself, am I as desperate to remove the sin or shortcomings from my life as I was to get the foreign object from my eye?  Who can walk around with something in their eye?  Not I.  However, I daily walk around completely unconcerned about the faults or sin in my life.  What would happen if you didn’t remove the object from your eye?  Your eye would continue to water, become more irritated with time, eventually end up with scratches and likely infection.  Sin does the same thing.  It scratches, scars and poisons our lives.  The problem is, we let it stay and often even justify its existence as necessary.

I pray tonight that God will show me the changes I need to make in my life by making them as uncomfortable as an object in my eye.

Author: Angela Grunewald

Just a mom/wife/educator who loves the Lord and wants to share my thoughts. View all posts by Angela Grunewald