Mark 9:30-50
Do you take sin seriously? Jesus certainly does.
Consider Mark 9:42-48, where Jesus says that it is better to discard offending body parts and enter the Kingdom of God maimed rather than to be thrown whole into hell. A little thought about all this should readily tell us that Jesus is not to be taken literally here. That is, it should be clear that our hands, feet, and eyes are never actually the cause of our sin, and so lopping off limbs or gouging out eyes will not fix our sin problem. But should we then breathe a sigh of relief that this is “just” figurative language? No, not at all! We should instead get a clue that sin is deadly serious business that calls for intense repentance.
So, do you take sin seriously?
See also: March 24 (2021) / Matt. 17:24-18:9; Mark 9:33-50; Luke 9:46-50