Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – 2 Corinthians 1-3
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 18:7-9
Jesus: Beware indeed of those in a world filled with obstacles and temptations that cause people to turn away from Me. Those temptations are woven into the fabric of a world not yet redeemed, but beware to anyone who lures righteous women and men off the narrow path. If your hand constantly grasps at the things of this world rather than serves the Kingdom—cut it off and throw it away. If your foot is always leading you to wander, then cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to hobble, crippled, into the kingdom of life than to burn in hell with two hands and two feet. And if your eye always focuses on things that cause you to sin, then pull your eye out and throw it away. It is better for you to see the kingdom of life with one eye than to see the fires of hell with perfect sight.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
Does Jesus really mean we should poke our eye out if it makes us focus on things that would cause us to sin? Does He really mean we should cut off our hand if it keeps reaching for things of this world instead of kingdom things? You know, I think if that would stop you from sinning, I think Jesus would say, absolutely! What good are your eyes if they cost you eternity with Him? What good are your hands if they damn you to eternal punishment? What good are your feet if they carry you on the path to hell?
His point is we have to get control of our bodies. There is a whole crowd of people out there now that will tell you that satisfying our natural instincts is just human nature. We shouldn’t condemn or be condemned for yielding to the natural urges of our bodies. It the same physical reaction that all animals have. Just look in the wild and you’ll see every animal species satisfying those base desires, so we should as well.
Really? So rape is okay because we’re just satisfying those natural base desires? Really? So theft is okay because we want something someone else worked for and we think it should be ours? Really? So I don’t like what you said to me so I can pick up a gun and kill you? I’d just be satisfying those base desires, right?
Well, no, you’d say. Now you’ve gone too far.
Well, how far is too far? Who sets the rules? Who draws the line in the sand and says this is enough? You can go this far and no farther? Who determines when satisfying base desires turns into crime? Or sin? It really is an easy question. Our instruction book gives us the answer if we would be so bold as to read it. There will be only one judge at the final judgment. So if God is going to judge us, doesn’t it make sense to follow the rules He puts in place?
Try going to your boss tomorrow and telling him you’ve decided you aren’t going to follow his rules any more. You think they are dumb and you want to do what you want to do. It’s not that you don’t appreciate your paycheck every couple of weeks, but you’ve decided that you just don’t want to follow his rules any more. You’ll come into work when you feel like it. You’ll decide if you like the tasks he gives you to do and then get around to them when you aren’t busy with your own projects and hobbies. You want to continue to use his resources, though, because he’s got great stuff that can come it handy for your projects. It’s okay if he puts a note in your box every once in a while to tell you he’d really like you to follow his rules again, but don’t get too pushy. You don’t want him to hurt your feelings or anything like that.
How long do you think it would take before your boss either fired you or called the paramedics to get you to the nearest psych ward and put you in a straight jacket with some high powered meds? But that’s exactly what we do to God. We’re on this planet with a task to do. He created us to worship Him and care for the rest of His creation. Read the book. It’s all in there. And what do we do? We tell Him we want to follow our own path because it’s just satisfying our base instincts. The problem with that line of thinking is that God created us in His image. We are much more than just animals. We have the ability to choose our actions. We don’t have to run around the world naked eating or being eaten. That’s the rest of the animal kingdom, you know.
God created us to come into a relationship with Him and gave us the instructions on how to do it. We can choose right over wrong, obedience over disobedience, righteousness over sinfulness, eternal life over death, we get to choose which path we want to follow. But in choosing, there are rules to follow. We follow God’s rules or we act like the idiot in the earlier illustration. God judges based on His rules, so which is the path that makes the most sense?
Did Jesus really mean follow God’s rules whatever it takes to do so? Absolutely! He’s the one that sets the rules. He’s the one that sits in the final judgment. He’s the one that determines whether or not we followed Him. Doesn’t it make sense to dust off His rule book and study up a little before that day comes? I’d sure like to ace that final exam. How about you?
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.