If Your Hand Causes You to Sin, Cut it Off

Sometimes it's hard for us to get rid of things that may seem important to us. For me, it was my Ipod. I didn't realize it but it mattered more to me than anything else. I had even gotten to the point where I told myself, "I don't know what I'd do if I lost this." And now, that thought sickens me. Yesterday, I did a lot of thinking, and I realized, nothing should be more precious to me than unraveling new found mysteries about my Lord and saviour and getting to know him personally. I found that my Ipod took me away from what gave me life, it took away my life. My marks in school didn't matter to me anymore, I found no time to practice piano(one of my passions) because of spending too much time on my Ipod! I was texting too much and because my Ipod gave me social access, I spent way too much time living out my social life, which is fine, but I needed to prioritize myself. I was making my social life my priority over my relationship with my Creator and Heavenly Father. So yesterday as I was thinking, the verse,

Mark 9:43

 ^"If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off."

popped in my mind. It's amazing how God gets your attention by putting thoughts and verses in your mind that you normally wouldn't think about. So I realized that I have been idolizing my Ipod, I needed to cut it off. After I thought these thoughts I decided to consult my mom about my idea of getting rid of my Ipod permanently and she told me something really interesting. She told me that getting rid of it won't change anything, I have to make that change within me. So I need to be committed to Christ and on fire for him always and if I won't do that, then getting rid of my Ipod won't change anything. So I made the decision inside that I'm willing to  live for my Lord and not idolize any more material things.

So here's my challenge for you, I want you to think of the following things during the year:

• what are your priorities
• how important is reading your Bible to you
• how long do you spend praying to your Heavenly Father
• is there something in your life that's taking up too much of your time
• are you finding yourself not having enough time for important things like The Lord, school, work, talents,, etc.
• do you want to serve the Lord with all your heart but find that it's not going to be easy for you and requires a lot of dedication

If you find that your answers are not satisfying and are ashamed of them, then I want you to re-evaluate yourself and see what's standing in between your main priority(the Lord), your other priorities and you. Is it a hobby that you need to get away from for a bit? Or a material object? A sinful act?

My mom also mentioned something that night as well that never came to thought. She said that anything, good or bad, that stands in between you and God is not good, and might need to be prioritized. It could be electronics, reading books, maybe studying. As long as it takes away time for you to spend with your loving Father, it is something you would need to change in order to restore your relationship with God. It doesn't mean don't spend time studying or don't read books. But instead of reading one of your books, read the Bible in between. Instead of straight studying, read God's Word and hear his encouraging loving words. Pray to Him to guide you through your studying, then it wouldn't be taking away time from the Lord, instead it would be learning from him and seeing his work in your studies. Sometimes though, the situation could be like me and my Ipod and could require a permanent action in order for you to get back on your spiritual walk with the Lord. Whatever it is, I do not want you to wander away from God without you realizing it. I want you to figure out if something in your life is taking away time from your relationship with God and do something about it. Do not let the problem grow, control it.