“If your
right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better
for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown
into hell.” Matthew 5:29
I eat produce, mainly veggies, like most people eat candy. I know: it’s strange.
Just earlier today I curled up and ate a bag of celery - don’t
judge me.
But needless to say, I am very serious about my vegetables.
Recently I went to the grocery store to grab a few items, including
some fresh spinach. When I got home, I
threw the items in the crisper and went on with my day. A few days later I went to use the spinach
and to my shock and veggie-adoring HORROR the spinach was already wilting and
turning mushy. I was completely confused. I had spent time picking the freshest
batch, how could it go bad so quickly?? Had a plague befallen my
refrigerator? (You laugh but I think
these things in those moments). With no
signs of baby locusts, my eyes fell to the culprit; an apple had fallen into my
vegetable crisper. I picked it up. It looked so harmless, but it had done some
serious damage.
We’ve all heard the saying that “one bad apple spoils a bunch”;
well an apple can pretty much spoil any sensitive produce. Even healthy apples emit a gas that quickens
the ripening process for other produce. Sorry
for the science lesson, but one little oversight and my produce was destroyed before
I even realized it.
When God speaks to us, He often shows us areas of our life
that are out of alignment with His will: unforgiveness (Matthew 6:15), a
spirit of gossip (Proverbs 11:!3), materialism (Hebrews 13:5), pornography
(Matthew 5:28), fornication (1
Corinthians 6:13), stealing (Ephesians 4:28), addictions (Romans 6:16), etc.
You get the picture.
Sin. Big or small, they are all offensive to the eyes of God.
Why? Because when God looks at your sin, He sees its toxic
nature for what it is. He sees it
emitting harmful energy into the rest of your being. He sees what it’s doing to
His precious child.
Destroying you.
However that revelation comes, whether directly from the
Holy Spirit or through the wisdom of another brother/sister in Christ, it’s
never an easy conversation. We don’t
like our flaws on display. If we did Photoshop
and Spanx wouldn’t be so popular.
But once the light has revealed, we have a decision to make.
Rewind to my produce experience. If I had seen that apple in the bin while I
was storing my vegetables, and l left it in there knowing what it would do,
most would call me foolish. Why would I choose
to be blind to the consequences? Doing
anything less than removing it immediately would seem ridiculous.
“I’m not ready to let
that go yet?”
“God knows my heart.”
Perfectly understandable and common responses.
So we bargain with ourselves. Unready to remove it, we try to separate or
hide that apple in the bin.
But here’s the problem with that. Sin cannot be contained or ignored. That’s like dropping black ink into a cup of water
and expecting it to stay just a drop; eventually it will spread and seep into
every part of that cup. Which is why in
Matthew 5:29 Jesus tells us to remove any part of us that causes us to stumble,
because the whole body will reap the consequences. I heard a powerful example of this not long
ago. A couple was working so hard to
rebuild their marriage yet their marriage continued to fall deeper into a pit. After years of turmoil God revealed to the
husband that his secret addiction to pornography had left the door cracked for
the enemy to enter their marriage. His “one
little sin” was destroying his entire family.
So, when God shows you those harmful areas, He is not trying
to rain on your parade, stop your fun or drive you into a guilt trip of
condemnation.
He’s trying to bring correction and preserve your life.
So what should our response be?
Repent.
Repentance means not only acknowledging the presence of our
flaws, but a heart to turn away from them and towards God.
Repentance is leaving Hell behind.
Repentance is removing the apple completely.
You better believe I triple check my vegetable crisper from
now own.
In the same manner we need to examine our hearts, continually.
God has invited you into His glory and the old you isn't on the guest list.
Let’s pray: Dear God, our Father
full of grace and mercy, we come before you with humble hearts and ask for Your
help. God we are so far from perfect,
but we thank you for the sanctification of our hearts through the blood of Your
precious son, Jesus. We want to be more
like Christ, so we come to you as David did in Psalm 139:23 and ask You to search
us, God, and know our hearts; test us and reveal our anxious and unrighteous thoughts. Lord I know that (name your sin) is offensive to You. I repent and turn away from it
right now. I ask for Your strength to seal this repentant heart and to lead me
in the way of everlasting truth. In
Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Now listening to: Give
Us Clean Hands, Kutless
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