Read the Word:
Matthew 18:6-9
Meditate on the Word:
Many would like to believe that because Jesus loves and give grace that He ignores sin. A cursory reading of scripture simply does not suppport such a conclusion. In His words in this passage, we see just how seriously that our Lord takes our sin. Of course we know that the “wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), and that Jesus paid that price for us on the cross. His penalty was paid to remove us from sin, not to allow us to continue in sin. Sin is still serious business. So serious that Jesus warns against causing others to fall into sin. So serious that He demands surgery to remove what would cause us to sin.
Of course, we can think of His words here as extreme. But, we must also recall His words three chapters earlier which point out, “For from the heart come evil thoughts murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander.” (Matt. 15:19). The surgery that is required is not of our hand, foot, or eye, but of our heart. And only our Lord can perform this surgery on us. Let our Lord’s reminder today of the seriousness of sin cause us to also take our own sin seriously.
Pray the Word:
Ask our Lord to bring to mind any sin that has not been cut out of your life. Repent of it today.
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