What Jesus Did : Mark 9:42 - No Stumbling Blocks Accepted
by Phil Ware
No Stumbling Blocks Accepted - Mark 9:42
"If one of these little children believes in me, and another person causes that child to sin, then it will be very bad for that person. It would be better for that person to have a millstone tied around his neck and be drowned in the sea." (ERV) Full TextKey Thought
So often in our passion to preserve the purity of the faith, we begin to exclude others. While purity in our faith is important, Jesus reminds us of the other side of the equation: woe to us if we exclude someone who Jesus sees as belonging or do anything to cause another to lose faith. New Christians, weak believers, and children are all precious to God. He doesn't want a single one to lose faith because of the hard-headedness, hard-heartedness, or arrogance of another believer.
Today's Prayer
God, please help me be more careful in what I say and how I act. I don't want to discourage a single believer from following you. Help my life and my actions be an encouragement rather than a discouragement to your people. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Today's Verses in Context
Then John said, "Teacher, we saw a man using your name to force demons out of a person. He is not one of us. So we told him to stop, because he does not belong to our group." Jesus said, "Don't stop him. Any person that uses my name to do powerful things will not soon say bad things about me. The person that is not against us is with us. I tell you the truth. If a person helps you by giving you a drink of water because you belong to the Christ, then that person will truly get his reward. "If one of these little children believes in me, and another person causes that child to sin, then it will be very bad for that person. It would be better for that person to have a millstone tied around his neck and be drowned in the sea. If your hand makes you sin, cut it off. It is better for you to lose part of your body but have life forever. That is much better than to have two hands and go to hell. In that place the fire never stops. If your foot makes you sin, cut it off. It is better for you to lose part of your body but have life forever. That is much better than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. If your eye makes you sin, take it out. It is better for you to have only one eye but have life forever. That is much better than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. The worms that eat the people in hell never die. In hell the fire is never stopped. Every person will be punished with fire. "Salt is good. But if the salt loses its salty taste, then you can't make it salty again. So, be full of goodness. And have peace with each other."-- Mark 9:38-50 (ERV)
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