THOUGHT FOR TODAY “If your hand causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 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. And if your eye causes you to sin pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.” Mark 9:43-47 “One is distressed by the failure of reasonable people to perceive either the depth of evil or the depth of the holy.” “Ethics,” Dietrich Bonhoeffer A sixteen year old boy came to see me one day. He had read Mark 9:43-47, and was obviously upset. Remembering my own teen years, I knew what was troubling him. I said, “Lets shut the Bible and think about sin. You are not a sinner because you have feelings that are a sign that you are becoming a man. When I sin with my hand, I willfully use it to hurt someone or to steal, or destroy something. When does my foot sin? When I walk into a place where I should not go. My eyes dont sin because I see! But I too often choose to look at things that are harmful for me.” Jesus wasnt talking to adolescent boys. His message was about how we witness of Him. Are we kind, polite? He does not want is to compromise, to be afraid to stand up for what is just and right. I frankly admire congressmen and women who refuse to bargain or compromise on issues that are important to them or their constituents. George Fairfield, elder at Redmond, Oregon Christian Church, shared this story with me. His father was a congressman from Indiana during the great debate about the League of Nations, the key issue of Woodrow Wilsons presidency. George was his father’s clerk and heard the historic debate in the Senate. The opposition was led by Senator Borah from Idaho, an outstanding orator. The democratic senators were solidly behind the presidents legislation. Someone had to compromise. Were they persuaded by the arguments of Senator Borah? Jesus wants His disciples to know the depths of evil or the depths of the holy. What is Gods will for earth and heaven? Our choices have heaven/hell consequences. Reasonable people maintain the world. Passionate people change it. And wise people guide the change process. - C. H. Rigma “Think on these things...” Philippians 4:8 Sincerely, Richard Merriman (Respond on e-mail. therev1925@yahoo)
Posted on: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 14:41:03 +0000