Wesley Corpus

I. 1. And, First, "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." If thine eye be single; if God is in all thy thoughts; if thou art constantly aiming at Him that is invisible; if it be thy intention in all things, small and great, in all thy conversation, to please God, to do, not thy own will, but the will of Him that sent thee into the world; if thou canst say, not to any creature, but to Him that made thee for himself,"I view thee, Lord and end of my desires;" -- then the promise will certainly take place: "Thy whole body shall be full of light;" thy whole soul shall be filled with the light of heaven, -- with the glory of the Lord resting upon thee. In all thy actions and conversation, thou shalt have not only the testimony of a good conscience toward God, but likewise of his Spirit, bearing witness with thy spirit, that all thy ways are acceptable to him. 2. When thy whole soul is full of this light, thou wilt be able (according to St. Paul's direction to the Thessalonians) to "rejoice evermore, to pray without ceasing, and in everything to give thanks." [1 Thess. 5:16-18] For who can be constantly sensible of the loving presence of God without "rejoicing evermore" Who can have the loving eye of his soul perpetually fixed upon God, but he will "pray without ceasing" For his "heart is unto God without a voice, and his silence speaketh unto him." Who can be sensible that this loving Father is well-pleased with all he does and suffers, but he will be constrained "in everything to give thanks" knowing that all things "work together for good."