Been a long time since I’ve hung out in the computer programming world. So long that I don’t think its called computer programming anymore. Now it’s about software development. So I don’t really know if in that world they still talk in TLAs and FLAs the way we used to (Three Letter Acronyms and Four Letter Acronyms). But in my day, why use words when letters would do?

One of those FLAs regularly referred to, at least in the day, was GIGO, Garbage In Garbage Out. Essentially stating the fact that bad input can only result in corrupted output. That flawed data coming into a system will only produce even greater flawed responses from the system.

And this morning, continuing to read in Jesus’ sermon on the mount, I’m reminded of the truth of GIGO. But in this context, it’s DIDO.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”  ~ Jesus

(Matthew 6:22-23 ESV)

DIDO. Darkness In Darkness Out.

In the world of light, the eye is the portal. It is the entry point. And so, a healthy eye will result in a whole body full of light. But corrupt the eye; reduce the light; increase the darkness; then the body is going to operate in darkness. And its output, its behaviors, will be characterized by darkness. Darkness In Darkness Out.

But Jesus’ eye talk is but an analogy, an illustration, of a more pointed truth He wants to convey to His followers. The DIDO truth concerning the eye is a warning of what can plunge a heart into darkness thereby corrupting soul, spirit, and everything a person does.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. . . . No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”   ~ Jesus

(Matthew 6:19-21, 24 ESV)

Let our lives be fixated on accumulating earthly treasure and know that it has a way of choking out the light and increasing darkness. Set your thoughts, your energies, and your priorities around filling up houses and storage units and know your affections are gonna follow. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

If the eye is the lamp of the body, then the heart is the lamp of soul. That’s why God regenerated our hearts when He redeemed our souls. But regenerated hearts are not hearts immune from corruption. Nor, because they have been made hearts of flesh attuned to the things of heaven (Eze. 36:26), are they unable to again calcify and function again more in line with the old hearts of stone attached to things of earth. For no one can serve two masters.

So Jesus warns His disciples. Treasure on earth, when acquiring them becomes the master of our lives, will choke out the light of heaven in our hearts. And DIDO. Darkness In Darkness Out.

O that we, as God’s people in this land of plenty, would hear afresh the call to be people of light and resist the darkness, the darkness of prioritizing earthly treasures above kingdom investments. That our focus would be on laying up treasures in heaven, and keep our hearts clear of the entanglements of this world. That light might shine into our heart unhindered so that light might come forth from our very being abundantly. LILO.

And this only by His grace. And this only for His glory.