April 22, 2012 Harming Your Children?

Harming Your Children? Mark 9:42-45 “And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. JESUS proclaims how deadly is the sin to destroy others by causing them to sin. A destroyer’s destination is sure. It is hell and death. Now I know you didn’t want to hear that. You want to hear Jesus is all-loving and all-compassionate. Well, he is. He has such love and compassion for his creation that he will destroy people who harm those who seek him. The millstone “necklace” is a deadly image. A millstone was a very large heavy stone used to crush grain. Jesus was the best at creating the perfect illustration for his teachings. And this millstone illustration is his teaching: Do not harm my own at the penalty of certain death. Now parents, stop and think. Is there any way you’re harming your children’s relationship with Jesus? Are you continually living an immoral life? Are you letting your children skip Bible class for sports? Are you neglecting God’s Word in your home? Are you modeling “skipping church”? What is your home’s priority—destroying God’s Word or building on God’s Word? Pause and consider the harm you do neglecting God’s Word.