In Your Eyes

in your eyes
the light, the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes

from "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel

What do you suppose Peter Gabriel meant by equating the gaze of the one you love to a church doorway? That doesn't seem nearly as romantic as something like "limpid pools," or stars, or the ocean or whatever. I was thinking about it this morning, and I realized that the lyric means that in the eyes of his lover, he can see something very special and wonderful, the thing he had been looking for all along, something that is so special that it almost seems holy. And that pretty accurately describes what you see when you look into the eyes of someone who loves you. There is something special there that is so pure that it almost seems holy.

And that's no mistake!

Throughout the Bible, God describes His chosen people as His bride. Sometimes His bride is spotless and beautiful, and sometimes His bride has been "unfaithful," chasing after other things instead of pursuing our relationship with Him, but we are always His bride. When we come to Him, he washes us and makes us holy. What He sees when He looks into the eyes of His bride is His holiness. And when God created romantic human love and marriage, He created it to mirror the relationship between Him and His bride, the Church.

So when you look into the eyes of your loved one this Valentine's Day, enjoy the love they have for you, but also know that the love they have for you is a reflection for the love God has for you!

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. -Ephesians 5:25-27 ESV

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened... -Ephesians 1:17-18a NIV

I found it hard to believe
Someone like You cared for me,
You put this love in my heart!

I tried but could not refuse,
You gave me no time to lose.
You put this love in my heart!

from "You Put This Love In My Heart" by Keith Green