Be Careful Little Eyes

 Many adults raised in church probably learned this song as children:

O be careful little eyes what you see

O be careful little eyes what you see

For the Father up above

Is looking down in love,

So, be careful little eyes what you see

O be careful little ears what you hear

O be careful little ears what you hear

For the Father up above

Is looking down in love,

So, be careful little ears what you hear

O be careful little feet where you go

O be careful little feet where you go

For the Father up above

Is looking down in love,

So, be careful little feet where you go

I was raised in a Jewish home, so I never heard the song until, as an adult, I met Messiah Jesus. Then, when I married Nancy a few years later, we volunteered to teach 2^nd grade Sunday School classes. The simple song became part of our curriculum.

I thought of the lyrics the other day as I read through St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians:

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8)

In other words: “Be careful little eyes, and ears, and feet.”

The promise – and the warning – are usually lost on young and innocent minds. But the promise and warning in Paul’s letter is more apparent to the adult. If we sow to our fleshly lusts, we will reap poisonous fruit. If we sow to Christ’s Spirit within us, we will reap a life-giving harvest.

It’s a simple – and flawless – equation.

“Bad company corrupts good morals,” the Holy Spirit tells us through the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 15:33). Later, to the same church, God warned: “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-15)

Christian, be careful. Do not let down your guard. The promise and the warning of that simple children’s song, and of the text in Galatians 6, is as absolute as the law of gravity.