In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he tells his disciples that sin must be dealt with drastically because of its deadly effects. He goes as far as to say, “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” (Matthew 5:30).
Jesus was not advocating self-mutilation. Cutting off your hand does not solve the problem of sin because sin lies in the heart of man. But Jesus is saying that we must abhor sin and take extreme measures to not mess around with those things which can tempt us to sin. If a part of the body is gangrenous, it endangers the whole body. If something is causing you to sin, then get rid of it! It would be more profitable to lose a member of one’s own body than to bear the eternal consequences of the guilt from such a sin.
Maybe you’ve heard of Aron Ralston, the young man who while canyoneering in Utah’s Blue John Canyon became pinned to the canyon wall by a shifting boulder. He spent the next six days trapped with his hand pinned under an 800-pound rock. In the end he cut off his arm to free himself and he survived to tell the story.
I still have the September 2004 issue of Outside magazine where Aron’s account of survival was first published. Since then, a book (Between a Rock and a Hard Place) has been published and a movie created (127 Hours) to tell the terrifying story. In the Outside account… day 6… Aron is near death and prepares to do the unthinkable. In order to live, he realizes he must amputate his arm. He describes the moment he realized “it” must be done in order to live [Rated R]:
“Out of curiosity, I poke my thumb with my knife blade twice. On the second prodding, the blade punctures the epidermis, like it is dipping into a stick of room-temperature butter, and releases a telltale hissing. Escaping decomposition gases are not good; the rot has advanced more quickly than I guessed. Though the smell is faint to my desensitized nose, it is abjectly unpleasant, the stench of a far-off carcass.
I lash out in fury, trying to yank my arm straight out from under the sandstone handcuff, never wanting more than I do right now to simply rid myself of any connection to this rotting appendage.
I don't want it.
It's not a part of me.
It's garbage.
Throw it away, Aron. Be rid of it.”
Friends, sin will destroy you. It will ensnare your heart! Flee from it. You don’t want it. It’s not a part of you. It’s garbage. Throw away the rotting appendage and be rid of it. Rely on the Holy Spirit who enables you to say no to temptation and strengthens you to be obedient.
