“And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire...And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than having your two feet, to be cast into hell...And if your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED” (Mark 9:43–48 NASB).
I like the illustration Timothy Keller uses to explain what Jesus is saying. “Sinful behavior (the reference to hand and foot) and sinful desires (the reference to the eye) are like a fire that has broken out in your living room. Let’s say a cushion on your couch has ignited. You cannot just sit there and say, “Well, the whole house isn’t burning -- it’s just a cushion.” If you don’t do something immediately and decisively about the cushion, the whole house will be engulfed. Fire is never satisfied. It can’t be allowed to smolder; it can’t be confined to a corner. It will overtake you eventually. Sin is the same way: It never stays in its place. It always leads to separation from God, which results in intense suffering, first in this life and then in the next. The Bible calls that hell. That’s why Jesus uses the dramatic image of amputation. There can be no compromises. We must do anything we can to avoid it...” (Timothy Keller, “King’s Cross, pp. 75-76).
Those who play with fire will eventually get burned (Proverbs 6:27). Those who dabble with sinful desires and behaviors will eventually pay a far greater price than intended. What seems harmless in the beginning soon becomes a monster. That is why radical surgery is needed. Put out the fire before it can spread.
God loves you!
Mike
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