Daily
Devotional

A few evenings ago, my wife and I visited a friend who had just had surgery on one of his eyes. Our friend’s problem was in the back of his eye, so the doctor had to perform a complex and delicate procedure to reach the affected area. I will omit the graphic details, but the operation required special tools for cutting the eye open, and laser beams to perform the work in the back of the eye. Stitches closed the suture, and a large bandage covering his eye completed the process.

Why did my friend go through all of this? Because our eyes are among our most-valued possessions. In fact, blindness is more feared than the loss of any other sense. Perhaps this is why Jesus chose the eye to illustrate the importance of making it to our home in Heaven. When Jesus spoke of plucking out the eye that offends, He knew that people would not abandon their eyes lightly—on the contrary, we go to great lengths to preserve them! Jesus was making the point that nothing is more important than obeying God’s Word, not even the things which we might think are necessary in life.  

Eyes are not sinful in and of themselves, but they can become a vehicle for sin if the things we look at are displeasing to God. Similarly, there are other things in our lives which do not have to be sinful, but when used wrongfully, they become barriers in our relationship with God. The advice to “pluck it out and cast it from thee” is a reminder to us that dealing with sin is serious business.

Today, let’s examine the various aspects of our lives—our jobs, interactions with others, choices of entertainment, etc.—to see if anything “offends.” No matter how important such actions seem, Jesus made it clear what is most important in this life. We would be better off abandoning those things altogether than allowing them to destroy our relationship with Him.