If your eye offends you . . .
Our pastor preached on this passage this morning, from the Sermon on the Mount. It was provocative. The Big Idea: get to the root of the temptation of your sin and cut it out of your life. Be real about such things. Don't try to deal with the symptoms; get to the root.
That is why fasting from media may be the best thing to do. All our sinful desire will not go away if we turn off cable and the Internet; of course not, since what defiles us comes from within. But the media does nothing but feed such practices and desires.
For some reason, my Facebook "friends" like to post pictures of gooey deserts. I'm not sure those seductive pictures help anyone with their eating habits!
Seriously, we are just playing with this topic. We hear the truth and say, "But God doesn't really want me to give up . . . " when that is exactly what God wants, for our own good. If it seems like God is saying to give something up, it's worth listening to (unless of course you are one of those people who think God tells you to give up your spouse and children, practicing your faith, etc. There are those people. My son told me of a coworker whose supposed Christian in-the-ministry husband told her God wanted him to divorce his young wife. How demonic!) But if it's social media, talk radio, vampire shows, dead body shows (CSI), or worse, it's probably a good idea to do what you're being told. At least for a while. A while being defined as indefinitely.
We are insensitive to how we are influenced by things. In Cracker Barrel today, I wanted--not food, but to buy some more clothes, and I have two closets full. I wanted because I saw. People often say all they watch is HGTV, but that station can make you desire more--a bigger, better home, furniture, etc.
That is why fasting from media may be the best thing to do. All our sinful desire will not go away if we turn off cable and the Internet; of course not, since what defiles us comes from within. But the media does nothing but feed such practices and desires.
For some reason, my Facebook "friends" like to post pictures of gooey deserts. I'm not sure those seductive pictures help anyone with their eating habits!
Seriously, we are just playing with this topic. We hear the truth and say, "But God doesn't really want me to give up . . . " when that is exactly what God wants, for our own good. If it seems like God is saying to give something up, it's worth listening to (unless of course you are one of those people who think God tells you to give up your spouse and children, practicing your faith, etc. There are those people. My son told me of a coworker whose supposed Christian in-the-ministry husband told her God wanted him to divorce his young wife. How demonic!) But if it's social media, talk radio, vampire shows, dead body shows (CSI), or worse, it's probably a good idea to do what you're being told. At least for a while. A while being defined as indefinitely.
We are insensitive to how we are influenced by things. In Cracker Barrel today, I wanted--not food, but to buy some more clothes, and I have two closets full. I wanted because I saw. People often say all they watch is HGTV, but that station can make you desire more--a bigger, better home, furniture, etc.
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