Living in Montana taught me just how unforgiving winter can be. Once something is frozen into the ground, you can almost count on it staying there until spring.
One year I tried to pull up our Christmas doormat, only to discover it was frozen solid to the deck. There it remained for months, cheerfully greeting every visitor well into April with the words, "Christmas JOY."
Doormats tell a story. They welcome guests, hint at the personality of the home, and quietly collect the dirt that would otherwise be tracked inside. Yet, because they endure weather, mud, and constant foot traffic, they require regular attention if they're going to keep doing their job.
That made me wonder about another doormat—the one leading to our soul.
How often do we stop to consider what we're allowing to be tracked into our hearts? Our eyes are the gateway. They are the windows to the soul.
Scientists tell us that nearly half of the brain is directly or indirectly involved in vision. More neurons are devoted to seeing than to all of our other senses combined. These remarkable one-inch orbs don't simply help us observe the world—they reveal what is happening within us.
Our eyes soften with love, harden with anger, widen in fear, narrow with suspicion, sparkle with joy, and fill with tears in sorrow. A glance can communicate compassion, bitterness, hope, guilt, or peace long before a single word is spoken.
Jesus understood this perfectly. In Luke 11:34–36 He said, "Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness."
Today's song echoes that truth as Caleb Carrol sings, "The world all around us is heavy in chaos, but all I need is Jesus in me."
The psalmist prayed, "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law" (Psalm 119:18).
That is a prayer worth praying every day. If we continually fix our eyes on Christ, He cleans away the dirt that tries to settle in our hearts. His light begins to shine through us, and before long others don't just hear about Jesus—they see Him reflected in our eyes.
May the doorway to your soul welcome His presence so completely that everyone who looks into your eyes catches a glimpse of the Savior.
Closing Prayer Father, guard the doorway of my heart. Cleanse my eyes from anything that dims Your light, and help me to see this world through Your love and truth. May my life reflect Jesus so clearly that others are drawn to Him. Amen.