DEVOTION – DAY 538

Matthew 5:29-30 “Sin And Hell”

Matthew 5:29-30 “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out 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. And if you right hand causes you to stumble, 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 go into hell.”

The above verses may seem extreme but Jesus was not teaching about hurting oneself. Jesus was making a point about sin and its consequences in these verses. In v29, Jesus said that if a man sinned by lusting after a woman when he sees someone attractive, or if he covets something that he saw that his neighbor has, that man was sinning. Because sin was harmful and leads to God’s judgment, it was important for that man to guard his heart against sin. Jesus did not teach us to then that the man gouge out his eye, so that he will not sin. This is because we all know that blind people can still lust after other people even if they cannot see them. Blind people can still covet other people’s things and still sin. Sin comes from within a person’s sinful mind and heart. Jesus was using vv29-30 to teach about the seriousness of sin and the reality of hell that awaits all sinners, if sin is not dealt with quickly. Sin has a way of spreading and leading a person to judgment and hell if nothing is done about them. 

A young boy started by telling little lies to his friends about how he lost his pocket money on the way to school. His friends believed him and they treated him to some food during recess. This boy went on to tell more lies. As he grew up, his lies became more and more far-fetched. Without realizing it, he had become a habitual liar. His family members soon learnt not to trust him. There were frequent clashes between this young man and his mother. This young man even lied to people in his church to gain their sympathy and to obtain loans from concerned church members. His Pastor tried to help this troubled youth by pointing to his need to repent of his sinful past and to walk more closely with the Lord. This young man promised to repent but he soon fell back to his old ways. In the end, he left his church and started to mix with bad company. His church pastor could only pray for him to turn back from the path he had chosen that would be disastrous for him. 

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, please help us to safeguard our hearts from sins and temptations. Please help us to have the same hatred for sins as you do because it caused the death of your Son on the cross for our sins. May we all repent and turn back to you quickly whenever we sin against you. We pray in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Questions

  1. Do you think hell is real? Discuss.
  2. Jesus spoke about hell as a real place of great suffering and if Jesus believes it exists, so should we. What must we do to avoid going to hell? Discuss. Read John 3:16.
  3. Why is it important for us to turn away from sin quickly and to go to God in repentance? Discuss.
  4. What sins have you committed this week that you need to repent for?