Commentaries:
Jesus urges single-mindedness! The teaching here involves simplicity of intention in living one's life. In light of verse Matthew 6:33, verse 24 shows we must focus our attention on our highest priority. When that is done, it indicates devotion to purpose and undivided loyalty to the object of that purpose.
In geometry, it is impossible to draw more than one straight line between two points. Though other lines may start at the same point, only one will reach the second point. All others end up somewhere else. Likewise, a person who tries to focus on several goals at once has no clear orientation, and he will wind up elsewhere.
Some commentaries note that the ancients believed that light entered a person through the eyes, the "windows" of the body. If the eyes were in good condition, the whole body benefited from the unimpeded light. If the eye were not sound or "single," the whole body's effectiveness was diminished. Thus a person who single-mindedly pursues God's Kingdom and His righteousness will have moral healthiness and simple, unaffected goodness.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Simplify Your Life!
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Genesis 19:26
1 Kings 18:19-21
1 Kings 18:36
1 Kings 18:39
Jeremiah 29:6
Matthew 9:14-17
Matthew 9:16
Matthew 26:28
Mark 2:18-22
Mark 2:21
Luke 5:33-39
Luke 5:36
Luke 14:19
1 Corinthians 10:1-5
2 Timothy 4:3
Hebrews 2:1-3
James 1:5-8
Library resources that contain this verse:
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