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Cutting off is a hard process. People, habits, items, environments; they can all bring so much comfort and familiarity and even love. But when they bring sin into the picture, Jesus had radical ideas about what to do with them.
Say it with me. “Cut it off.” One more time out loud. “Cut. It. Off.”
He used alarming metaphors of “cutting of your arm” or “gouging out your eye” if it causes you to sin. That’s dramatic (and I think it’s on purpose). He didn’t say “only engage when you’re feeling resilient” or “not enough to actually hurt you.” I personally have come up with a myriad of excuses why this isn’t the loving, Godly, WWJD approach and I’m yet to prove God wrong.
Please note that this isn’t a call to cut off sinners, or avoid places where sin occurs. We as believers are called into these very spaces to be the salt of the earth and the light on a hill. It is however, a warning against engaging in things that cause you to sin.
Your spiritual life is more important to Jesus than your comfort, popularity, relationship status or familiarity. Jesus wants you to want God first and promises to take care of you.
Prayer: God, I admit that it’s hard to let go of the things of the world. Show me the things that distract me from you and give me the courage and the desire to cut them off. Provide godly substitutes that direct me to you instead. I pray that You will truly fulfill all my needs and that you will be my #1 priority. Amen.
