Matthew 18:8-9 NASB   “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 to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. 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 to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.

A few months back I spilled some water on my laptop. I wasn’t too concerned about it until my laptop started typing the same letters over and over…without my help. So I figured the computer was a goner and I’d need a new one. But my IT guy (my wonderful husband) thought he would try something drastic first. He opened up the laptop and disconnected the keyboard from the mother board. He set up a wireless keyboard for me to type with instead. So the physical keyboard was “cut off” from the rest of the computer, and though it looks a little odd to have another keyboard sitting on top of my laptop, it works great and it saved my computer from the landfill.

Jesus is saying that if we have sin in our lives that is keeping us from serving Him, we should take whatever drastic measures are necessary to cut it out! The drastic measures may not be appealing (like losing a body part) but the temporary pain pales in comparison to the pain of eternal separation from God.

-Kevi