Matthew 18:8,9

Matthew 18:8,9 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. Wow! These verses sound pretty harsh. Cutting off hands and feet! Pulling out your eye! What in the world is Jesus talking about? Well, Jesus wants us to be different people. He wants us to think of others. He wants us to prepare for heaven. What we do in this life is not as important as how we get along with others. The things of this life are not as important as the things that will last for eternity. Jesus was saying that being generous is more important than stealing to get a lot of stuff. Thinking the right thoughts is more important than looking at wicked things. We may be tempted to say, “I just can’t help myself. I just can’t resist looking at the wrong things.” Well, just get rid of your eyes so that you won’t be tempted to look at the wrong things! But then you reply, “Oh no! It’s not bad enough to do that!” Well then get control of your eyes! Actually, Jesus doesn’t want us to cut off our feet or our hands or pull out our eyes. But Jesus does want us to go to the right places with our feet. Jesus does want us to do the right thing with our hands. And Jesus does want us to look at the right things with our eyes. Jesus wants us to either use them the right way or get rid of them so that we can. Obeying Jesus and living right  is important. Really important.