Here's a Saw: Chop Your Arm Off...

"If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell." Jesus, Matthew 5:29-30

The idiosyncrasies of life! An idiosyncrasy is a peculiarity of each person's physical and mental constitution. There is indeed power in our mental constitution. Human beings are intricately designed to be intelligent. Therefore, we tend to look for roads of escape for every hardship. Our survival instincts are more powerful than the wildest animal. In the same fashion, we do not want to be bothered with God. He is that figment of our wildest imagination. He is that supernatural atom that provides rules and regulations for us to follow. He is that invisible hand phenomenon that so rampantly puts our minds into fascination. Therefore, we need a way around Him. There must be a way to reduce Him to nothing so we can live a good life...

Today, I dare to pronounce a day of change. The Word of God is not a saw that chops your hands off each time you do something wrong. Neither is it a guillotine, as in the days of the French Revolution! It is not a bunch of regulations that causes lightning to strike a man for his disobedience. It is no longer 'an eye for an eye' or 'a tooth for a tooth.' Jesus came to bring change...a brand new way of life.

Jesus came that the LOVE of God may be manifested. When He said we should be ready to pluck our eyes out if they cause us to sin, He introduced something very spectacular. No, he didn't mean that you should keep a chain-saw in your bedroom and pluck your eyes out when they see evil. Rather, what He introduced was the fact that the kingdom of heaven is the most important destination that we should strive towards. Everything else can only amount to second best, if not less. God's love is so important to have that we must be able to give up our most precious instruments to obtain it. People are dying every day, young and old. In the first five months of this year alone I have heard about three young people who have died, with strong affiliations with my young tender age. One of them was a kingdom child, he had a destination. I didn't know the other two so well.

The bible does not say, "here's a saw: chop your arms off." That would mean painful displeasure. But rather, when your eyes are open to see the power of the love of God, all things that align you to His word will become natural. Speaking from personal experience, the love of God has thrown me into a state of perpetual bliss. I cannot completely understand His love. I cannot completely fathom how Jesus willingly went to the cross, led like a sheep, to get his skull, hands, and feet pierced with nails. He did it for you and me. Therefore, I am thrown into a natural state of love. I obey the word because, well, I feel like it. I obey the word because I want to and not because I am forced to. I do the things I do, not because I am scared of hell...but because I see reasons with God. I read the bible from the book of Genesis to Revelation (not in any particular order) because I see 'love' staring right back at me when I read it. Keep in mind that I have read all sorts of romantic flicks before in high school, from mills and boons to Silhouette romance...from Nora Roberts (whose writings I still love) to Jackie Collins (who could be really verbally pugnacious). Romance novels cannot compare with the Word of God. Neither can my love for Nancy Drew Files, or any other crime investigative flicks. There's just something about the Word of God, so genuine that sometimes it brings tears to my eyes.

That is why I can introduce the "flesh manuscripts" so freely. I do not consider them to be a bunch of rules and regulations. Rather, I find myself obeying because God and His kingdom are what really matters most. I don't own a saw, I don't cut my right hand off when the Word shows me my wrong ways. Rather, I run into the arms of my Knight in Shining armor. The One whose mercy can never run dry. The forgiver of my sins. My Rock of Ages and my Redeemer. He lifts my head back up and places a smile on my lips. I don't cut my arms off, instead I find God's grace.

The word of God keeps me alive. It shows me the right way to become everything I was meant to become. It shows me that when I walk by the highways of life I will fall into trouble, but if I find the narrow way...I and the few who listen and find it, will find life. It gives me the water of life so I can thirst no more.

Today, I release every burden that you, the reader, has been feeling about the Word of God. I rebuke every secret suffering, fear and torture telling you that you are bound by chains. Cast all your fears and burdens to God. Don't let your idiosyncratic mind tell you that you can't do it. You are not a prisoner to rules and regulations, but a prisoner to God's love. He loves you, whether you choose to believe it or not. Yes, you can find God's love. Yes, you can obey His word. And no, you don't have to cut your arms off. No, you don't have to do anything impossible or out of the norm. Just let God's LOVE flow through you...let it come naturally...let Him speak to you...let Him change you naturally, from the inside out! He's ready, but are you even willing?