Friday, July 19, 2019

Drastic Measures


Jesus said:

 “If your right eye causes you to sin,               “If your hand or foot causes you to sin,
pluck it out and cast it from you; for                  cut it off and cast it from you. It is better
it is more profitable for you that one                  for you to enter into life lame or maimed,
of your members perish, than for your              rather than having two hands or two feet,
whole body to be cast into hell. And                  to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if
if your right hand causes you to sin,                  your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out
cut it off and cast it from you; for it                    and cast it from you. It is better for you to
is more profitable for you that one                     enter into life with one eye, rather than
of your members perish, than for your              having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.”
whole body to be cast into hell.”                            Matthew 18:8-9 (NKJV)
     Matthew 5:29-30 (NKJV)

 Sin has serious consequences and Jesus uses hyperbole in these passages to warn of it. We aren’t literally to pluck out our eyes or cut off our hands or feet.  But Jesus seems to be exhorting us to take drastic measures to deal with whatever in our lives causes us to sin.  

First of all, we should not excuse or minimize or ignore our sin, but call it what it is and take action against it.  We may need to remove ourselves from certain situations or cut ourselves off from things that tempt us away from godly living. We may need to stem the ungodly influences of social media, culture, entertainment, the internet that bombard us daily. We need to flee from what lures and distracts us,  put limitations in place to protect our hearts and keep our lives on the right course.

Even trying to do godly things can become a source of sin. For example, I’ve found that pride and envy can beset me in writing these devotions. It’s embarrassing to admit, but true.  So I’ve had to take steps to guard against the temptation to take credit and pat myself on the back; and I must regularly fight against looking for the praise of men and feeling puffed up as a result.  

I pray that we will take these warnings seriously, confront sin in our lives honestly and take whatever measures are needed to appropriately deal with it. 

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