“And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”-Matthew 5:30
“If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off.” There I was sitting in a Serve Safe class (food
safety class) learning about the dos and don’ts of serving food. The instructor was lecturing on hairnets, and
so forth when she mentioned jewelry. She
stated “ladies, I am sorry to say that you need to take off all your jewelry
before serving food. Only a solid gold band
is acceptable.” She went on to say, “the
reason we do this is the risk is too great.
The potential harm to the customer, the business, and the brand is too
great. A diamond or earring could easily
fall into the food and end up breaking somebody’s tooth. It is better to remove them.” No one argued.
The risk is too great. Those words shot to my heart like an arrow. The Spirit, with scripture, began to apply it
to my spiritual life. I asked myself: “do
I believe the risk is too great?” “Do I
believe that there is potential harm in the wearing of gold, jewels, and costly
array(clothes)?” If I were to purchase
and wear these things, would it rob me of communion with God? Would it set a harmful example to others? Yes. I
believe it would. No debate there, but
what else? What other things in my life are
there that these words of Jesus: if thy hand offend thee, cut it off
touch on? Could it be that investing my
time in television/movies would defraud God of the wisdom that he wanted to
give me? Is worth it? Or is the risk too
great? Are we so immune to the influence
of social media to imagine that our minds cannot be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ? Can we really turn off
the phone whenever we want? The reason
to pull off the ring was not simply about the jewel or gem that rested within
the band. It was the risk. It was the potential harm. Are we convinced that the “things” of this
world have a potential to cause everlasting harm? Are we sold on the fact that these things can
persuade, addict, snare, and steal our joy?
I am convinced that the Holy Spirit is the perfect gentleman. He will not go where He is not welcome and
will not stay where He is not wanted. God
doesn’t want our money, talents, or intelligence, he wants us. He wants our time, our devotion, our worship. I don’t know where you stand on all the “things”
(concerts, movies, sports events, bars, dances, cruises, mixed bathing, immodest
dress, jewelry, hobbies, and more) of this world. I can’t speak to your level of indulgence in
the things of this world. Nor you to
mine. But it’s come to this: we can spend
our days living in friendship with this world and giving only the dregs of our
time to God and call that being Christians; but don’t imagine that is without risk. Without harm.
We will risk losing fellowship with the Creator. We will risk allowing Satan to invade our
hearts, life, home, churches, and pulpits.
We will risk losing our harmony with the Holy Spirit, our power in
prayer, and our ambassadorship for the cause of Christ. We will risk falling
away from God, backsliding, and even falling into hell. It may not be sinful, but don’t imagine for a
moment that it is not harmful. That
these things are without risk, and without offense to each of us.
The book of James tells us: “whosoever
therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” God is breaking me over this thought, that if
you are friendly to this world. To the
affection, lust, pride, and pleasure of it.
Then you are an enemy of God. That
implies there is a battleground. When we
take on the world, we yield that territory, that part of us that should be
given to God. We yield that to the lust
of the flesh, which is not after God, and therefore will not glorify God. When we cut off the world in our lives, we yield
that territory over to God; to use as he sees fit. Thereby experiencing the blessings and
fellowship that come with sacrificing as our Savior did. All this to say: we can have as much of this
world as we want. Or as much of the presence
of God as we want; but we can’t have both.
To take on one, is to leave off the other.
