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My brother and nephew were coming to stay the night. He was just a baby still, but he was crawling non-stop and had even taken a few steps. While I was so excited to have them over, I was beside myself trying to get everything baby proofed.
I knew without a doubt we would be wherever he was. But I still wanted to make sure all of the big things he could get hurt on were moved or secured. I went through the house as if I were him. As I looked around, I asked myself, “What looks dangerous? What would cause him to stumble and fall?” I would move stuff against the wall, I took away the coffee table, I cleared out the floor space to make it wide open, and I put pillows all around the blow-up mattress where they would sleep. I didn’t want anything to hurt that baby.
Jesus continues teaching about protecting our children, but also those that are young in the faith. He points out how we must remove the stumbling blocks in our life that cause us to sin.
“Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.” (Matthew 18:7-9)
The NLT version puts it like this: “What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting.”
Jesus isn’t telling us that we literally have to remove a body part. Instead, He is saying that whatever the stumbling block is, whatever is causing the temptation that leads to sin, that is what must be removed.
Just as I had to move that coffee table to protect my nephew, we have items to remove in our own lives to protect our minds, bodies and hearts from sin.
What needs to be removed in your life to keep your eyes fixed on Christ? What tempts you? What leads you to sin?
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