Survival
Sometimes we are called to take drastic action.
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 9:43-50
Yesterday, I heard a news story about a man who got a bacterial infection in a cut on his leg and wound up having to have the leg amputated. That's extreme, drastic action.
If we are facing a life or death situation, I guess we have no choice but to agree that such actions are necessary, if we want to survive. And that's what Jesus is talking about, survival.
When we think about survival in this life, we probably can agree that it is important. Most of us want to live a long and happy life. But what about the next life? Do we see survival in that life as important to us?
It is clear from Jesus' words that how we live this life determines to some extent, what type of life we have later, after this one ends. Now if that is too far-fetched a concept to grasp, chances are we will not feel compelled to take immediate action.
So, some if not many of us might just live with the stumbling and not look to change our ways.
If we do that, we may wind up losing our saltiness, as Jesus says. And then what?
It would probably be better for us in the long run to deal with the cause of our stumbling now, rather than wait to see what happens. What have we got to lose?
We can most likely make changes in our lives that are not as drastic as Jesus describes. And that would be good. Like the man with the infection, it would be better to discover it early and find a way to deal with it, before it claimed a leg.
So, maybe it is a good time to take stock of what we are doing and how we are behaving toward others and ourselves. We might just find something easy to adjust, and then we can live a long, happy life without fear of what may come next.
More to come...