Destroy your Flesh

And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.  And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. Matthew 5:30

This passage is not literal in the fact that we should cut a limb off, but that we should cut things out from our lives that cause us to sin or bring us into temptation. Myself for example, in my profession it is a tradition for a team to share a beer together, but I learned that even one beer effects me and even that small opening puts temptation full front into my mind. That is complete fulfillment of 1 Peter 5:8 "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." on the other side of the coin in Ephesians 5:18 it says, "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit" Does that mean if I am feeling the effects of alcohol I will not be filled with the Spirit? I would have to answer yes to that, and if I am not filled with the Spirit, I am not prepared to answer when the Lord calls. So I completely cut it out of my life.

 I am not saying it is a sin to have a drink, that is putting rules out that are not based in the bible, and that my friends is how we move towards religion. I would follow 1 Corinthians 6:12 "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any."  Whether it be beer, video games, television, the internet, friends, whatever, if it is causing us to fall into temptation we should remove it. 

All this is a journey, and we are pilgrims passing through this life, citizens of another Kingdom. John 18:36 Our King Jesus Christ said, "My Kingdom is not of this world." Our place is there in the Kingdom of God. But, we are called to a war that will be fought until the breathe is no longer in our lungs, or we be taken into the sky by our coming King. Hold fast to the life we are called; follow Christ as in Luke 4:18 in which He states he is anointed to preach freedom to the captive. We share the same Spirit as was in Jesus Christ, so take this day in victory for Him, honor Him with our lives today, and take His freedom out unto the world of the captive!