Dave's Diary

Prayer

Before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on John 1:14.

Lord Jesus, You are the Word of God made flesh.
Your written Word speaks Truth as it shows me how You lived;
Your written Word speaks Life when I listen and obey;
Speak Your living Word of Life and Truth to me today,
and give me grace to see, hear and obey.
Amen.

Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your sense of anticipation that God is about to speak to you through His Word.

Reading

Matthew 18:8-9

In yesterday’s devotion, Jesus warned us against causing others to stumble by leading them into temptation. In today’s verses, He teaches us to be radical about cutting out of our lives anything that leads us into temptation.

This is not the first time Jesus has used this radical metaphor. Way back in February we encountered it almost word-for-word in Matthew 5:27-30 in the context of adultery and lust. Repeating Himself in Matthew 18 is Jesus’ way of dramatically emphasizing that His disciples are to be so radical in our love for God and others that we will deal with temptation radically. And this is true not only in the area of our sexuality, but in every part of our lives. We are called to cut off any temptation to sin right at its source.

Once again, we need to remind ourselves that Jesus’ deep concern with sin is not some quest to ruin our fun. Human sin leads to a break in one’s relationship with others and with God (see Isaiah 59:2, Romans 6:23), which in turn leads to a draining away of true life (Genesis 2:16-17). Through His life, teaching, death and resurrection, Jesus came to bring us abundance of life (John 10:10) and so He will do anything to liberate us from the sin which destroys life. In this instance, He instructs us to work with Him by taking responsibility for our own contributions to leading ourselves into temptation.

Jesus’ death on the cross has paid the price for our sins, and all is forgiven. Our relationship with God is restored through what Jesus has done. But to walk in constant freedom from sin, and hence in fullness of life, we need to cooperate with Jesus’ ongoing work in our lives; and this work includes His instruction to remove from our lives anything that leads us into temptation.

As William Barclay puts it in his comentary,

“Whatever is a seduction to sin must be removed, however painful the removal may be …”

Contemplation

Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn one or more of these declarations over and over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ:

• I will examine my own life for sources of temptation that I am bringing on myself.
• I will cut them out of my life under the guidance and empowering of the Holy Spirit.

Heavenly Father, may my life today be a love-offering to You. Please empower me by Your Spirit to pursue Your pleasure in my thoughts, words and deeds, and to eliminate any source of temptation wisely and effectively. Amen.