Irvin Wasswa
Tylertown Campus Pastor
Matthew 18:7-9
7 “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! 8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
Four men one day had the opportunity to take part in milking the venom of a King Cobra snake at a local zoo. As you can imagine the job was very dangerous as the King Cobra snake’s bite can be fatal. The men stuffed a whole roll of paper towels into the mouth of the snake. Once the roll was saturated with venom extracted from the snake, the men were ready to release the snake. However, before the snake was to be released the zookeeper made the comment, “More people are bitten trying to let go of snakes than when they grab them.” The zookeeper encouraged the men to make sure that they choose not to play around with the King Cobra but to instead immediately release it; because if they didn’t, it would turn around and bite them!
What’s the moral of the story? Well, snakes are not anything to play with…but more importantly than that, sin is nothing to play with. Just like the King Cobra snake, if you play around and dabble around in sin, you will get bitten. This is why Jesus warns us in Matthew 18 to cut out the things in our lives that may lead us to sin. What does that look like in your life? Whatever may bring about temptation and may lead you to sin, be diligent to rid yourself of it. The good news today is that we do not have to walk in defeat as children of God, in bondage to sin and addiction. Because Jesus Christ died and rose again, we can be free and walk in freedom. May we choose to walk in freedom these days!