The Physician’s Prescription

“And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell.” (Mark 9:47)

                  In the 1600s, a man suffered severe leg pains when he was reminded of a similar passage: “If your leg offends you, cut it off.” So, he did, and he died. Many of us will read that story and say, “That’s not what that passage means!” You are right; however, a right understanding of our passage is far more painful than what that man endured. A man may cut off his leg to rid of some pain, but few men will cut off their sin to be rid of some wickedness. Yet, this is what Jesus calls us to do.

                  Let us understand the seriousness of sin. I remember an older man from my youth who got gangrene, but he refused amputation. Instead, he thought he could treat it in less drastic ways. Guess what? He died. Whether it be the field hospitals of the Civil War or UMMC, physicians do not amputate to diminish life; rather, they amputate to save life. Do we expect any less of Jesus? The Great Physician knows what is best for us and wants what is best for us, and He also knows that sin calls for amputation. We may think that a little self-help will do the trick. Many men hope that accountability groups will severe the bondage to sin; however, I am reminded of some hard truth. If a man will lie to his wife, he’ll lie to his accountability group. Jesus instead calls us to something far more substantial – cut off the cable, throw away the phone, severe the friendship, take a different route to work, and so on. Where we find sin, we must cut it off.

                  Do you trust your Physician? Many of us may say, “Grace, grace, grace.” Grace isn’t a magic word that can excuse our sin (Rom. 6:1-2). When we place our trust in our Great Physician, we must also follow His directions. Paul calls this “obeying the gospel” or the “obedience of faith.” (2 Th. 1:18; Rom. 1:5). When we refuse to deal decisively with sin, we either do not believe His diagnosis, or we do not trust in His cure. Let me remind you of something. When Jesus came to the pool of Bethesda, several were ill, but He healed but one. The Great Physician has come to you and offers you a wholeness and holiness of which only He purchased and only He provides. Let this great mercy of Christ lead to great grief over sin and a turning to the Great Physician. Take sin seriously, and His mercy even more so.