“And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.” - Mark 9:43, ESV.

Two things are evident in this verse. First, God is very serious about dealing with sin. He will not tolerate it at all. Not one little sin that we treat frivolously is God willing to overlook. Thank God, He dealt with the punishment of our sin on the cross. He knew how enept we are to deal with sin. But He still hates it when we do.

Secondly, God is not opposed to personal sacrifice to avoid sin. The ultimate example, of course, is Jesus, who was sacrificed for sin. There are still some sacrifices we might make to avoid added sin in our lives. Some sin fighters will need to avoid going to the bar. Others will need to avoid beach vacations. Some will quit some social circles to avoid temptations coming from that group.

All of those examples are cutting off opportunities for temptation that may lead to sin. Yes, we are in the business of growing the kingdom, but we are also charged with fighting our temptations and sins. God obviously takes that work very seriously, too. What do you need to cut off today? - Pastor Mike

BTW, my wife threw a pack of turkey and a lighter in the cart, and temptation was strong. It was just last week that I quit smoking cold turkey.