Again, Jesus said when speaking of laying up treasure in heaven, and serving God and Mammon, "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!" In the Old Testament, the evil eye stands for avarice and greed, the good eye for generosity. Is there anyone, then, who does not see that if a man fosters thoughts of selfishness and greed, he blinds himself, to all the better and higher things, and gropes in darkness. [Sidenote: A summary.] In this way, then, Jesus taught that men should serve God with single-minded loyalty. In His sayings and parables, He presents four reasons: (1) The life of man is in the hands of God. He gave it and He will take it away. No one is sure how long he may be privileged to enjoy worldly pleasures. But the life of the spirit is everlasting. Its joys shall never end. (2) Worldly goods and pleasures are perishable and fleeting. We may lose them when we think we have them most securely. The things of the spirit are eternal. They can not be taken from us, so long as we worship in spirit and in truth. (3) It is impossible for man to hold two equally important and equally cherished objects of interest. One of the two will inevitably be neglected. (4) If a man's motives are selfish and worldly, his soul becomes darkened to truth, and to spiritual things. {172} [Sidenote: A paraphrase.] For these excellent and sufficient reasons, man should cultivate an attitude of single-minded loyalty to God. Instead of toiling and sweating for things of passing value only, man should strive for the things of permanent joy and satisfaction. Jesus's message, as has been aptly said, may be paraphrased thus: "Look up. Get a goal before you that is worth while. Let the one passion of your life be loyalty to God. Then your joys will be wholesome and permanent, and you shall walk in the light, not in darkness." THE REFERENCES Matt. 13:44-46. Matt. 6:13-21. Mark 1:13, 14. Matt. 6:24. Mark 10:13-16. Luke 12:13-15. Matt. 6:22-23. THE QUESTIONS 1. How does man show himself short-sighted when considering the things of God? 2. What is the significance of the parable of the treasure and the pearl of great price? 3. What do we learn from Jesus's attitude toward little children? 4. Name and discuss the first two reasons given by Jesus why we should cultivate single-minded loyalty to God. 5. Name and discuss the second two reasons why we should cultivate single-minded loyalty to God. 6. Name as many instances as you can in which we might practice single-minded loyalty in our own lives. {173} {174} PICTURE: CHRIST AND THE RICH YOUNG RULER, Hofmann {175} XXIII RICHES AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD [Sidenote: A liberal man.]