42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where “‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 Everyone will be salted with fire.
50 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
-Mark 9:42-40
Have you learned to co-exist with your sin? Maybe there’s a sinful habit that’s been plaguing you and you’re just tired of fighting it. You’re at a comfortable truce. Yeah, the sin is still there but you don’t want to deal with it and you figure it’s not getting any worse so I’ll just leave it alone for now.
This is exactly the type of mentality that Jesus is speaking out against here in this passage. Sin is so terrible and so horrible that we should want to serve or eliminate ANYTHING that tempts us or causes us to sin.
If video games is a temptation for you and your lifestyle reflects that you’re worshipping it, cut it out of your life. If that thought frightens you or scares you, then it probably means video games is an idol in your life—a little god or maybe a big god that you’re worshipping.
To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with playing Apex Legends, or League, or Minecraft. But if your heart makes it a “god” then it’s something that the real God wants us to deal with.
And yes, sometimes getting rid of idols and temptations in our lives is hard. I know for many guys, pornography is a real struggle. Lust is a huge temptation that sometimes seem almost impossible to beat.
The focus of what Jesus is saying here is that he wants us to try. That sums up the Christian life. I don’t think we have any power over our own success in this fight against sin—that’s the job of the Holy Spirit—but Jesus just wants us to try. God wants us to keep fighting against sin and not give up, even when it seems so hard or impossible. Our desire to try pleases the Lord.
What we’ll find is that when we try—even baby steps—we find God giving us the strength to continue to fight. What do you need to cut from your life? What do you need to try to fight?
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