Matthew 18:7-9

Posted on August 3, 2009

Ponderful Verses

7 “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!
8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.
9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

Jesus was a powerful speaker, no? To think He said all these things without the benefit of a teleprompter! When I read this passage, arguably one of the most powerful passages, it requires me to do some serious thinking. Does He mean I should literally take a hatchet and amputate an appendage? I don’t think so.

How I perceive the verse is this; ‘If your worldly pleasures are leading you towards sin, it’s best to throw them in the trash, so you can more effectively practice repentance.’ Does the computer in your room tempt you to frequent pornographic material? Put it in a public room of your home. Does your music collection encourage the use of inappropriate language? Delete those offending mp3s, and make coasters of the CDs. In short, identify your stumbling blocks and then utterly destroy them, so you wont be knocked off of the straight and narrow path.

Let’s pray today that the Holy Spirit will help us recognize the challenges we face in our lives, especially the ones that are not blatantly obvious, so that we can live a more repentant life, and set a better example for our lost loved ones.