Scripture:
42"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.Observation: Our actions do not just affect us but others as well.
Application:
When I first read this verse, I thought of it from a parent's point of view. As parents, we have this amazing opportunity and privilege to lead our children to the Lord. This exhilarates and terrifies me at the same time. I think about the amazing chance that I have to show my children each and every day how important God is in my life. I can demonstrate how to lean on Him and how my life has been changed by becoming a part of God's family. On the other hand, our lack of example to our kids can create a false sense that we don't need God. Sometimes I don't know if I am doing or saying enough. As parents, we can model Jesus to them and talk about our faith and show them our spiritual lives and how it makes us different from the world. We can't choose for them, but we can lead them in the right direction. If we fail at this, there are dire consequences.
As I thought about more, it made me think that we are all children to God and all "little ones" in a sense. Our actions, or perhaps lack of action as the case may be, can cause others to sin. We are to be an accurate reflection of Christ to everyone we meet and with that comes the responsibility to lead by example. What is our example saying to others? Do we reflect what God wants others to see? How do we handle our tongues? Our hands? Our actions? Are we leading others towards God or causing them to sin by turning them against Him?
Verses 43-47 illustrate that nothing should be an excuse to sin. It is better to lose a hand, foot, and eye than to live with it and be tempted by sin. Let us be reminded of this and the example we are to others as well.
Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Thank you for being perfect and Holy. You are our example and we long to be more like you. Help us to follow your lead and lead others to You. Lord, we struggle with the strongholds of sin and it is difficult to consider chopping off and throwing away the parts of our life that cause us to sin. Help us to realize that we need to do this because our submission to sin causes destruction not just in our lives, but the lives of others too. Please give us Your power to overcome anything that threatens us to sin against You. Amen.
(In another note, Leviticus 19:28 says:
28You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the LORD.
Do you think that they actually performed tattoos like we do today?)
1 comment:
Pam, this is so true. The saying "No man is an island" certainly holds true when it comes to the ramifications of our sin. One could probably say that our sin never affects just the sinner - there are always ripple effects. In fact, sometimes there are tsunamis.
Thanks for this reminder!
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