By Wilbur Lim
In the past few years, there have been a number of infants born to members of the Klang church of Christ. Paying special attention towards their newborn, parents and grandparents take much effort and go to great lengths to care for the well-being of both mother and child. It is true, as recently a sister-in-Christ went halfway around the world to provide confinement care for her daughter and grandson!
At a certain point in time, each of them may have said this or an equivalent, that their baby is the apple of their eyes. Yes, this is the description given to their little bundle of joy, even though it brought about a total change in the married couples’ routines, sleepless nights with seemingly endless crying, and the list goes on. It is mysterious how a baby can provide so much happiness to the family in an effortless manner.
In modern language, “apple of my eye” figuratively means that the object (usually someone) is cherished above others.
The Bible (NKJV) has the same phrase recorded in different parts of the Scriptures too.
Proverbs 7:2 reads “Keep my commands and live, Andmy law as the apple of your eye.” The overall context shows the author advising his son to keep his commands and law at all times, having wisdom to avoid being led astray by immoral women. As an application, we too are reminded to keep the word of God embedded in our hearts, so that we may flee from the temptation of sin.
Psalm 17:8 reads “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings.” Here we see how King David was praying and imploring God to keep him safe from his enemies. He was desperate for God to treat him as someone of great importance in His sight! In separate accounts, Nehemiah also requested seven times for God to remember him – five times for himself and twice for others! (Nehemiah 1:8; 5:19; 6:14; 13:14; 13:22b; 13:29; 13:31).
Won’t it be great if we are able to be the apple of God’s eye? In Revelations 20:12-15, The Bible mentions that each and everyone’s deeds will be recorded in the Book of Life, to be judged at the Second Coming of Christ. We need not fret nor doubt, if we have:
1. Heard the Gospel (Romans 10:17)
2. Believed the Gospel (Hebrews 11:6)
3. Repented of our sins (Acts 2:38; 17:30)
4. Confessed in faith (Acts 8:37, Romans 10:9-10)
5. Been baptised into Christ (Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21)
Remained faithful till death (Revelations 2:10)
Let’s emulate the early Christians who were praised by Paul in Philippians 4:3 “…whose names are in the Book of Life,” and apostle Paul that we may one day quote him, that we have “fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).