The Determination

UV 2253/10000 The Determination

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.
Matthew 5 v 29

This uni-verse spoken by Jesus does not mean that we literally gouge out our eyes to end lust of the flesh and the lust of life, sexual lust as well as covetousness. It implies that we should be as determined not to sin as we would be if we knew it would result in the loss of vision in one eye or the loss of an arm. Jesus the sinless One became SIN so that the sinful become sinless. He became the curse so that the cursed become blessed. He had His whole body cast into hell for the sake of all who might repent. He had His whole body wounded and bruised for our sins. Now that the huge cost has been paid, we ought to sincere in our repentance and ruthless in our own attitudes to real time sins- thoughts, words or deeds that offend the Lord. We should be so ruthless that we are willing to pull it out by its roots, burn it to ashes, destroy it to its foundations, dismember every part of it.

Our whole being, spirit, minds and bodies are consecrated and dedicated to the Lord as His “live in” and living temple. Sin and its corollaries-death, disease, defeat and curses cannot and should not rule over us. The kingdom of Jesus and His law which is the word written into our hearts and minds rule over us. We need to introspect and examine our hearts constantly whether anything in us is offensive to the Lord and be ready to cast it down into the bottom of the sea. The old sinful man should be buried if not cremated so that it does not resurrect itself and the new man should be resurrected, revived, fed, strengthened, encouraged, developed. We need to amputate the cause of sin in our lives. We judge ourselves so that we are not judged.

The uni-verse is exhorting us to get rid of anything sinful in our lives, lock, stock and barrel so that it does not come back to haunt us again. Spiritual growth is much like the two way processes of the human body- the anabolic or the building up process and the katabolic or the destructive process. We need to practice death by crucifixion and resurrection in a spiritual sense and simultaneously. The litmus test to determine which aspects or elements of our lives we need to get rid of and which ones to nurture and develop is whether it is beneficial for us in the long term and in the eternal term. Instead of sweeping our weaknesses under the carpet, we need to place these in the garbage can or better still consign it to the shredder.

Prateep V Philip