Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What Temptations Cause You to Stumble? | Mark | Mark 9.43-49

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. And I'm Patrick Miller. If this podcast has been helping you in your walk with God, would you take five seconds to help us? Hop onto Twitter and follow our new Twitter account at TMBT Podcast. If you go there, you can see our latest episodes. You can also follow Keith and I and send us messages. We'd love to follow you back and see what's happening in your life.

Starting point is 00:00:34 life. Right now, we are asking, who is Jesus? My wife tells me that when she was a little kid, her dad thought it was funny to playfully trip her. Now, I'm not sure she thought it was so much fun, but as a dad myself, I can confirm that tripping your children can be great fun, especially if they're small and they don't have very far to fall. Now, I know some of you are judging me, but trust me, my kids laugh. I think that they might actually like it. But sometimes tripping someone isn't so funny. Joan Benoit Samuelson, she was a phenom in the marathon world. And she wanted to run and win the NYC Marathon. At the time, Greta Vites was the rainy champ. She had won it multiple times and she knew the course like the back of her hand.

Starting point is 00:01:18 But as the race gets going, Joan gets an early lead. And she makes that lead even longer as the race goes on. It looks like she is definitely going to be the winner. She's going to dethrone Greta Vite until an overzealous water station volunteer steps in front of Joan Samuelson and sends her to the roadway right to the pavement. Greta Vites ends up winning. Joan Samuelson ends up getting third place as the result of the fall, and she never wins the NYC Marathon for the rest of her life. It's a sad story, isn't it? I want you to fast forward your life to 20 years from now, and I want you to imagine that you no longer follow Jesus. Can you guess why? Do you know the thing that is most likely to step into the roadway of your faith and send you straight to the pavement,

Starting point is 00:02:06 do you know the thing that's going to stop you from finishing your race with Jesus? Maybe it's lust. Maybe it's greed. Maybe it's pride or selfishness or your allegiance to a certain tribe or party. Maybe it's gossip, materialism, status, or the divorce that you're contemplating right now. Jesus has a lot to say about stumbling. and the cost that can come if you fall. We'll pick up in Mark 9, verse 43.

Starting point is 00:02:36 If your hand causes you to stumble, Jesus is saying this, by the way, cut it off. It's crazy stuff, right? If your hand's causing you to stumble, just cut it off. Is it better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go down to hell where the fire never goes out? And if your foot causes you to stumble,

Starting point is 00:02:53 cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. and if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell where the worms that eat them do not die and the fire is not quenched. Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves and be at peace with each other. When people think about Jesus like this pleasant teddy bear who only says calming, gentle things

Starting point is 00:03:29 and a soft tone, I wonder how much of Jesus they have actually read. I get it. I'd prefer it if Jesus sounded more like Joel Osteen or one of today's self-help gurus. Look, if you just have a problem in your life, don't get down on yourself too much. Empty out the negativity. Come up with a plan to fight the problem. Do your best. And if you can't change, fight to accept yourself as you are.

Starting point is 00:03:54 Fight to feel good about yourself as you are. But the real Jesus, he's not like that. He's sobering. He's sober about the risks of stumbling in your race. The risk isn't just a temporary short-term risk. Stumbling can turn into outright falling. And falling can become our eternal trajectory. That's what Jesus is warning about in this passage.

Starting point is 00:04:18 So Jesus is telling us, focus on the big, big things. It's better to participate in God's kingdom coming to earth than having your feet, eyes, or hands. So if your feet carry you into sin, Jesus says, cut them off. If your hands do evil, chop them down. What about those eyes? Pluck them out. Now, let's state the obvious. This is exaggeration. This is hyperbole. Jesus does not literally want us to maim ourselves. But he's exaggerating to make his point crystal clear. Jesus knows the things that will stop you from finishing race with him. He knows the things that could prevent you from enjoying eternal life with him, and he loves you enough to call you to do the hard thing. So what do you need to cut off in your life

Starting point is 00:05:04 right now? Maybe you're allowing an inappropriate relationship to blossom at work. Cut it off. Maybe you're battling with a pornography addiction. Get software like covenant eyes that monitors your computer and your phone and holds you accountable. Cut it off. Maybe you're battling obsession over stuff and status, having the right clothes, car, and house. Cut it off. Delete the shopping apps. Try sobriety for a month. Buy no clothes. Don't look at Zillow. Don't look at cars or whatever it is for you. Maybe it's your allegiance to your tribe or party. Cut it off. Stop reading the news. Leave the Facebook group or the text chain. In the very next passage, Jesus actually warns people about divorce. If you're not getting divorced because of sexual immorality, Jesus says, or maybe because of abuse,

Starting point is 00:05:57 well, then divorce could be the thing that makes you crash and fall. And he says, cut it off, see a counselor together, confess your part, forgive your spouse, fight to stay in this together. Because would you rather have the easiest solution of just cutting your spouse off out of your life? Or would you rather have eternal life with Jesus? You can do this with all of the things we've brought up. Would you rather be a part of your tribe, your political tribe, or would you rather have eternal life with Jesus? Would you rather have new clothes and a new car and a new house? Or would you rather have eternal life with Jesus? Would you rather have the porn or your adulterous partner? Or would you rather have eternal life with

Starting point is 00:06:38 Jesus? At the end of the passage, Jesus says that everyone is going to be salted with fire. And it's kind of a confusing sentence when you read it. The point is subtle, but it's very important. He's saying, we are all, every single one of us, going to experience the metaphorical fire of God's judgment or God's purification. Both are different kinds of fires. His judgment is one kind of fire. His purification is a purifying fire. And he says, all people will be salted with fire. All people will experience either God's judgment or his purification. Here's why, fighting sin is a painful process. Our world tells us that anything that causes you psychological or or cognitive pain or dissonance is bad for you.

Starting point is 00:07:24 Jesus disagrees. He says, no, you're going to be salted with fire. It will be judgment or purification. Fighting sin is a painful process because it's a furnace. It gets hot. But the end result of that purification, it's not destruction, it's refinement, it's transformation. That's what the fire of purification does.

Starting point is 00:07:45 Today, I want you to ask 20 years from now, what's the thing that's most likely to cause you to fall on your race with Jesus? If that thing is in your life right now, even in seed form, confess it to Jesus. Receive his forgiveness. Ask him how he wants you to cut it off. Jesus may say hard things, but he is a kind and gracious king who welcomes us not because we are perfect. He welcomes us because he is perfect and he is perfectly committed to making us more like him. purifying us to become more like him.

Starting point is 00:08:22 So ask for his forgiveness. He gives it freely. He gives it graciously. And then ask for his transforming power, his transforming fire to change who you are. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating.

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Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What Temptations Cause You to Stumble? | Mark | Mark 9.43-49

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