Radical Obedience
How far are you willing to go to protect your heart?
Verse of the Day
‘And if your hand—even your stronger hand —causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.’
Today’s Devotional
In this section of Matthew, Jesus is teaching us about adultery and lust. Jesus takes the command to not commit adultery and takes it back to its root cause, which is lust. This is an important thing for us to look at because all sin struggles have a beginning point, or a place of temptation that we can do our best to avoid.
Adultery may not be a struggle in your life. But we all have things that we struggle with, because we are human and we all have a sinful nature. Jesus is teaching us that we can take radical steps to avoid putting ourselves in positions where the temptations may be more than we can bear.
For example, are we willing to quit a job if we find a coworker attractive and our thoughts linger there more than is honoring of our spouse?
I freely admit that I do not feel qualified to expound on the teachings of Jesus, and today’s topic in particular. What I do know is that Jesus is asking us to examine our hearts, not just our actions. Are we brave enough to invite the Holy Spirit to show us the parts of our hearts that need to be sanctified?
Because I need help in exploring this topic, I went to enduringword.com. This is what I found: “Since Jesus considers adultery in the heart a sin, we know what we think about and allow our heart to rest on is based on choice. Many believe they have no choice – and therefore no responsibility – for what they think about, but this contradicts the clear teaching of Jesus here. We may not be able to control passing thoughts or feelings, but we certainly do decide where our heart and mind will rest.
Jesus simply stressed the point that one must be willing to sacrifice to be obedient. If part of our life is given over to sin, we must be convinced that it is more profitable for that part of our life to “die” rather than to condemn our whole life. This is the one thing many are unwilling to do, and that is why they remain trapped in sin, or never come to Jesus. They never get beyond a vague wish to be better.”
I have been in a place in my life where I wished to be better but was unwilling to sacrifice anything to pursue obedience. When God finally got my attention (through pain of my own making), the fear of staying where I was was greater than the fear of obedience. Today I can thank God for that. Now I can look back and see where I could have chosen radical obedience that would have spared me (and the people I love) so much pain and heartache. We think radical obedience is difficult and painful, but in reality God is trying to protect us from something so much worse. Do we believe Him?
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
What sin do you repeatedly struggle with?
What would radical obedience look like in dealing with that sin? If you don’t know, ask the Holy Spirit to show you.
Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the parts of your hearts that need to be sanctified.
Who could you talk to about this? Sometimes the people who are not involved in a certain situation can see with much more clarity what radical obedience might look like. Are you willing to write out a prayer asking God to show you who could help you?
How far are you willing to go to protect your heart?