SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/14/2022 9:51 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “The
Prevention”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
18:8-9
Message of the verses: “8 "And if
your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you;
it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than having two hands or
two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire. 9 “And if your eye causes you to
stumble, pluck it out, and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter
life with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the fiery hell.”
I have to say that it took me a while to understand
that the Lord is speaking figuratively in these two verses. I had a good idea that He did not want us to mutilate
our bodies, but then a friend of ours told us that this was a figurative
statement. No part of our physical bodies causes us to sin, and removing any
part of it would not keep us from sinning.
The point was that a person should do whatever is necessary, no matter
how extreme and painful it might be, to keep from sinning himself or to keep
from causing others to sin. Nothing is
worth keeping if, in any way, it leads to sin.
And the implication here is that there is overcoming grace available for
victory over temptation and sin, and that is very good news in our struggle of
living a life for the cause of Christ.
MacArthur
writes “This is a prepetition, with slight alternation, of the exhortation our
Lord gave in Matthew 5:29-30. In
5:29-30, the reference is to the right eye and then the hand and foot, whereas
here it is reverses and no mention is made of which eye. And whereas 5:29-30 refers to hell, here
Jesus adds the terms fire to show the
nature of hell and everlasting life
to show the contrast to hell. All those
details fade when we focus on the intent of the words. My own comments on Matthew 5:29-30 text are repeated
here:
“Here Jesus points the way to deliverance from heart
sin. At first His advice seems
incongruous with what He has just been saying.
If the problem is in the heart, what good is plucking out an eye or
cutting off a hand? If the right eye
were lost, the left would continue to look lustfully, and if the right hand
were cut off, the left would still remain to carry on sinful acts.
“Obviously, Jesus is speaking figuratively of those
things, physical or otherwise, that cause us to be tempted or make us more
susceptible to a person’s best and most precious faculties. The right eye represented one’s best vision,
and the right hand one’s best skills.
Jesus’ point is that we should be willing to give up whatever is
necessary, even the most cherished things we possess, if doing what will help protect
us from evil. Nothing is so valuable as
to be worth preserving at the expense of righteousness. This strong message is obviously not to be
interpreted in a wooden, literal way so that the Lord appears to be advocating
mutilation. Mutilation will not cleanse
the heart. The intent of these words is
simply to call for drastic severing of the sinful impulses in us which push us
to evil action (cf. Matt. 18:8-9).”
These are tough orders that come
from the Lord to us as believers in Jesus Christ and one must be dedicated to
wanting to live a life pleasing to the Lord, and most important to depend on
the Holy Spirit in order to help us in our battle with sin that we all have
each and every day. If any habit,
situation relationship, or anything else causes you to stumble, Jesus said, it
should be permanently forsaken. Great
danger often requires drastic measures.
MacArthur adds “Even if a sacrifice causes a person to be figuratively crippled
and to be blind in one eye—financially, socially, professionally, or in any
other way—that is infinitely better than being cast into the eternal fire of hell.”
This statement which is almost proverbial shows us
how drastic action again sin must be taken in order to live a life that is
pleasing to the Lord. Living in the
modern society with all of its digital gadgets where at the press of a button
on a smart phone can cause you to do sinful things in seconds makes it easier
to do those sinful things. Life in this
time period that we are living in is very difficult to live a life for the
cause of Christ, but as mentioned we must rely on the Holy Spirit of God and
the Word of God to get us through these difficult times we live in. Now one thing that I indeed need to mention
and that is only unbelievers are in danger of hell, believers can understand
from this statement the seriousness of sin and of leading others to sin. Paul gives us some good information on how to
live a life that is pleasing to the Lord as he writes the following from 1 Cor.
9:27 “but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have
preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” MacArthur concludes “The person who deals
decisively with his own temptations and sins will be in the least danger of
causing others to sin. If he is
genuinely and humbly concerned that he himself not stumble spiritually, he will
also be prepared and motivated to help others not to stumble.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I suppose that I need to take some drastic
actions in my life in order to not stumble, and one of the things I must do is
to leave the TV off more than I do now.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Trust that the Holy Spirit to convict me and
then help me to do the things that I need to do to live a life pleasing to the
Lord.
12/14/2022 10:34 AM
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