²⁹ And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, 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. ³⁰ And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of they members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

Matthew 5:29-30

I’ve never been blind, I’ve always been able to use both of my eyes, but I do take them for granted. In yesterdays memory passage, Jesus told us that even looking in lust is the same as committing adultery, and God judges the heart not just the action. Today Jesus is continuing that idea with our eyes.

I don’ think a single person who has eyesight would ever give that up voluntarily. Is there a value to that sight? Maybe a million dollars, to give up one eye? Maybe 10 Million dollars? Most people who say no, the money isn’t even worth that loss. Our eyes are precious, they are a major connection to our world around us.

Jesus is telling us that our Soul is many times more valuable than our eyes or other members of our body. He is telling us that if we value our souls like we should, we would quickly pluck out our eyes if they cause us to sin. That’s very serious. This is how serious God is about our sins. We are nothing without our souls!

³⁶ For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Mark 8:36

We cannot earn our way to heaven, we cannot earn our righteousness, we’ve already broken God’s laws over and over again. It is only by the work of Jesus Christ, paying for my sins that I am saved.

I keep seeing these bumper stickers “Freedom isn’t Free”, a truth that men and women have died for that freedom we cherish. But more so, Grace is not free either, it was Jesus, the God-Man, Perfect Lamb of God, Perfect High priest, the Lover of my soul, who died, undertook the wrath I deserved, and paid the price I couldn’t pay. Grace is not free. So how precious is that grace? Am I willing to pluck out my eye?

Are blind men effected by the lust of the eye? Can a hand-less man still burgle? The answer is yes, in his heart he can still sin against God. I think Jesus is asking us to take sin seriously, because until we do, we can’t even start to comprehend the Holiness of God. Our culture doesn’t take sin seriously, not even in the slightest. I need to mortify my sins, and disconnect from this world, but at the same time focus on the eternal.

O Divine Lawgiver,
I take shame to myself,
for open violations of thy law,
for my secret faults,
my omission of duty,
my unprofitable attendance upon means of grace,
my carnality in worshiping thee,
and all the sins of my holy things.
My iniquities are increased over my head:
My trespasses are known in the heavens,
and there Christ is gone also,
my advocate with the Father,
my propitiation for sins,
and I hear His word of peace.
At present it is a day of small things with me,
I have light enough to see my darkness,
sensibility enough to fee the hardness of my heart,
spirituality enough to mourn my want of heavenly mind;
but I might have had more,
I ought to have had more,
I have never been straitened in thee,
thou hast always placed before me an infinite fullness,
and I have not taken it,
I confess and bewail my deficiencies and backsliding:
I mourn my numberless failures,
my incorrigibility under rebukes,
my want of profiting under ordinances of mercy,
my neglect of opportunities for usefulness.
It is not with me as in months past;
O recall me to thyself, and enable me to feel my first love.
May my improvements correspond with my privileges,
May my will accept the decisions of my judgement,
my choice be that which conscience approves,
and may I never condemn myself in the things I allow!

“Mortification” Pg.80 From the book “Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions” Edited by Arthur Bennett