Good News
What causes us to stumble?
“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell., And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched. "For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." - Mark 9:42-50
We all do it. We encounter obstacles that cause us to change direction or trip up.
But those things happen to us. What Jesus is warning us about is different. He is talking about stumbling caused by us.
Is the hand at fault, or the eye? I don't think so. We make choices and those choices are what lead us astray sometimes.
There are two sides to this situation. One is what we do to others. This is where Jesus says we would be better off tossed in the sea with a weight around our neck. Causing harm to others, especially the innocent ones, is the worst we could do for ourselves.
The second is what we do to cause ourselves to stray away from God.
Our self-inflicted harm is something we can overcome if we are willing to shut down the source. Jesus tells us we can still enter the kingdom saved if we do what it takes to set our path straight again.
So, while harming an innocent is a path to damnation, harming ourselves is something we can recover from, if we choose.
This is good news for all of us who have stumbled by our own actions, so long as we want to recover and return to God.
We are not totally lost. If we can find a way to shut down the temptation from the hand or the eye, we can save ourselves.
More to come...