Lent, day 27: Put out the Fire!

How do you put out a fire?

It depends on the type of fire. My mind always goes to water. But water doesn't always work. Sometimes you have to smother it. Sometimes you can throw a substance on it (like salt or baking soda). Sometimes if you just wait long enough, it'll burn itself out (but I don't recommend that method as there a other possible consequences).  

But what starts a fire? 

It could be anything. Sometimes it's caused by negligence on our part. Sometimes, it seems like they just happen! 

Which is more important to know? How the fire starts or how to put it out? 

I don't have a "right" answer to that. I think...fires happen. So I think it's imperative that you know how to put it out.   

There is one area of life that is just a tinder box of potential spiritual fires. And to keep it real it has everything to do with sex and relationships. It's a tinder box for thought crimes and actual crimes. 

So today's reading is:  

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

Matthew 5:27-30 

Since I already discussed thought crimes yesterday, I won't go into how it's hard not to be an adulterer, but I read this quote that I thought was pretty legit: 

Not my eye...!

"The man who is condemned is the man who deliberately uses his eyes to awaken his lust, the man who looks in such a way that passion is awakened and desire deliberately stimulated." 

There is a way to use your body, in this case the eyes, that promotes immorality (by biblical standards...which are the ones we're talking about). Which leads us to the shocking statements Jesus makes about our body parts: 

Rip out your eye. Cut off your hand. 

Seems extreme. A few early church peeps did these things! Buuuuuuut, did JC mean this literally? No.  Why? Because that wouldn't solve the problem. 

A pervy guy with two eyes will still be pervy with one. Like we stated yesterday, this is a heart issue. But, if that's the case, what is Jesus getting at here? He's saying "put the fire out."

Fire is a serious business, and the eye can act as a match. It's a spark. So watch what you expose your eyes to. Don't let your eyes soak up the images (accelerant) that will inflame your mind. I didn't know this, but the "right hand" is supposedly euphemistic for "penis" (dynamite?) which makes a ton of sense in the context of this verse. Clearly, it's speaking to the two body parts that can lead to...umm...fires. 

I think the message here to men (and women) is to neutralize.

Neutralize - to render (something) ineffective or harmless by applying an opposite force or effect.

Put the fire out! So how do we neutralize the effects or eyes and body parts have on our moral purity? By applying an opposite force: prayer, fasting, abstaining from certain activities and visual cues, studying scripture, spending more time in community, etc., etc. I don't know! Whatever works for you. 

But, we have to neutralize.