Jessica Albritton, Girls Minister LHBC

Matthew 5:27-30

 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”

Once was a pastor preaching at a 3-day revival in Panama. After the first service of the revival Mrs. Ramirez came forward requesting prayer. “Pastor, I need you to pray that the Lord cleans the cobwebs out of my life. I have so many cobwebs. Could you please pray?” So the pastor prayed to the Lord to clean out the cobwebs. Night 2 of the revival rolls around, and Mrs. Ramirez comes down again asking for prayer for her cobwebs. The pastor gently reminds her that he already prayed for the cobwebs, but he would graciously pray again. Night 3 comes, and you guessed it, sweet Mrs. Ramirez comes down after the service requesting prayer for her cobwebs again. The pastor begins to pray, “Father, we do not ask you tonight to clean the cobwebs from Mrs. Ramirez’s life. In fact, Lord, keep them there for now. But tonight, we ask for something much greater. Tonight, we ask that you KILL THE SPIDER in Mrs. Ramirez’s life. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.” 

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus makes a bold statement and says if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. In the same way Jesus states that if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. Now was Jesus truly saying we need to gouge out our eyes and cut off our hands? Well, the short answer is yes. But let’s look deeper at the verse. Jesus says if it CAUSES you to sin, not if it PARTAKES in sin. So if our hand causes us to sin then absolutely cut it off. But the hand and the eye in this situation are more like cobwebs. The true spider, the CAUSE of our sin is not our hands and our eyes, it’s our heart.

In Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 9 the Bible states “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Our hands cannot cause us to break God’s law but our hearts most certainly can and do. So the question is, what do we do with our sinful heart? The Bible says to cut it out.

2 Corinthians 5:17 states “therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. If you are a believer in Jesus, He gives you a new heart. Jesus came to the earth, lived a perfect life, and died a sinner’s death for us to have new life in Him. Has Jesus killed your spider of sin and given you a new heart? Or are you still trying to clear out the cobwebs?

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Heavenly Father, thank you for killing the spider of sin and death once and for all and offering a new life in you! Lord, In Jesus name, amen!

MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK:

Psalm 90:2

Before the mountains were brought forth,

    or ever you had formed the earth and the world,

    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.