FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7
Scripture: Mark 9:45-46

Mark 9:45-46 states, “And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—where ‘Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.’” The directive, ‘cut it off’ implies immediate action. Jesus is training the Twelve to look for issues that cause sin and cut such areas off. He was teaching them they could not afford to lose their salt and they could not afford to lose their light. When we identify something that causes sin or is a reason we are misjudging situations, we are to take immediate, corrective action. The fruit of waiting is significant and we do not want to reap the fruit of sin. Causing offense, as the disciples did in verses 39-41 qualifies. Being offensive when God wants us to be contributing to growth and development of our fellow believers is sin. If we cause offense when we are instead called to aid in a fellow believer’s growth, we need to identify what is causing our problem and let God show us where the root is. There is no fruit without a root! If our actions cause offense and do not contribute to the growth of our fellow believers, then there is a rotten root in us that needs to be discovered and dealt with. All fruit has a root. If there is good fruit there is a good root. But if there is offensive fruit, it has a root that needs to be dug out and removed. Jesus calls us to do it and He will help us identify and remove that which is not of Him. We cannot afford to disregard these principles. They are keys to how people grow and how we prepare ourselves to use our faith in the last days.