“And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.”
 Mark 9:45

In this scripture, Jesus makes a pretty radical statement: “And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.”  

Obviously, His statement is not meant to be taken literally. Rather, He’s speaking of radical spiritual surgery. Whew!

In other words, it’s intentionally cutting out the areas of sin or spiritual decay in our lives.

Perhaps, Jesus was referring to “feet” that tend to run towards activities that do not align with God’s will or God’s best for our lives. Or it could be “feet” that tend to run from responsibility or accountability?

We don’t know exactly what Jesus was referring to in this verse, but we know that He was using this analogy to communicate the very real, danger of ignoring sin in our lives.

One of my favorite books to this day is Lonesome Dove. In one scene, Gus is shot in the leg, and gangrene sets in. The doctor tells him that amputating his leg is the only way to save his life. Left untreated, the infection will kill him. Even Gus’ best friend pleads with him to let the doctor cut off the leg, however, Gus refuses. Sure enough, he soon succumbs to the infection. Because he wasn’t willing to deal with the infection in his leg, he lost his life.

Sometimes a sin is so dangerous that if left “untreated,” it can eventually, fatally infect our soul.

Take an inventory of your life. Where are you living from your own strength or for your own glory, rather than God’s? Ask God to reveal the areas in your life where you need the Great Physician to perform radical spiritual surgery.

Start today and experience the freedom that comes from walking in God’s will, free from the chains of sin.

Written by Bryant Wright, Founder, RFTH

DIG DEEPER
Read “The Negative Consequences of Sin” also by Bryant Wright