*Note: the scripture printed on the Daily Readings bookmark is incorrect. This is the correct passage for today.
Wow, what a passage. I mean, he really holds nothing back here! We're chopping off body parts, we're throwing people in the sea, we're talking about the fires of hell...this passage can be a little startling. But as I read it again, I begin to understand where Jesus is coming from. And it makes even more sense in the context of the season of Lent that we are stepping into.
Where Jesus talks about cutting sin out of our lives, we talk about cutting bad habits or distractions out of our lives, things that might cause us to sin or keep us away from God. In a sense, my giving up social media for 40 days is kind of like cutting off my hand. Social media often feels like a part of me that I can't get rid of, and it definitely causes me to sin. I compare myself to others, I focus on Instagram when I could be focusing on the Lord. I even call sitting on the couch and scrolling through Facebook "rest," when I could be finding real, healthy rest in the Lord. So, I'm cutting it off. At least, for 40 days anyway. And will it sometimes feel like something is missing, like my hand? Yeah, probably. And that just goes to show how messed up our world is. But like Jesus says, "it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell." And hopefully, during this time, I can refocus that Instagram energy toward my relationship with God.
From dust we came, and to dust we will return. I've been studying Ecclesiastes recently, and I'm reminding myself that when sin tempts me, I just need to remember Solomon's famous words from Ecclesiastes 1: "Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!" And what he means is that nothing in this world means anything without faith. We come from dust, and we will return to dust. So when I'm tempted to something that isn't in God's will, I remember that that thing isn't important. It's meaningless. The only meaning in life is faith in Jesus, because he is the one who brings life from ashes.
by Kelsey Bacon
No comments:
Post a Comment