Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 38

                                                 
                                                         Hebrews 12:3,4

^" Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.⁴ In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood"

I often think of a passage in the gospels as a parallel to this one

^" If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.  ⁴⁵ And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. ⁴⁷ And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸ where

“‘the worms that eat them do not die,
    and the fire is not quenched.’

⁴⁹ Everyone will be salted with fire.

⁵⁰ “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?  Mark 9:44-50 

               When Hebrews talks about "you have not resisted sin to the point of shedding blood", my take is that we don't recognize how awful sin is and take the necessary precautions to avoid it. We are like this lady in this Far Side cartoon when it comes to temptation

What is she even doing walking down that street? No wonder she gives in. Of course we are the same way. A good friend of mine struggled with pornography and when he would get gas for his car he would go inside and pay and buy a pornographic magazine. Dude! Change gas stations; this isn't rocket science! We watch TV shows that influence our minds. I heard of a woman recently who cheated on her husband and when confronted said, "I don't know why you are making such a big deal about this, the Khardashians all do this". Pretty sure she shouldn't watch that show anymore. But it's not just sexual sins. So many people are discontent with life and HGTV will fuel your discontentment with your house or life as will Facebook, Instagram and other social platforms. Maybe cutting them off from your life might feel like cutting off a hand or plucking out an eye but that's how serious sin is. It is so serious it cost God the life of His Son.

      What is it in your life that is causing you to sin or at least drawing you that way? Delete it. Block it. Unsubscribe. Whatever it takes. How bad do you hate sin??