The Fatal Cut

".... but i don’t want medication just give me liberation even if it cuts my legs right out from under me don’t give me medication i want the real sensation even when living feels just like death to me." - Derek Webb, "Medication" "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 5:29-30 ___________________________________________________________________

Just some thoughts I've been having lately. -KB

___________________________________________________________________ Plastic surgery can be a scary thing. Given, there are times when it can be warranted, but that's more of an exception than a rule. Not only is socially acceptable, but it is socially expected when one is faced with a physical flaw, regardless of it's severity. It is the finding of a nose or a wrinkle, and adapting it to fit our own standards of perfection. And as an analogy to our inward being, it is a proceedure that is fatal. I know that I surgically alter my flaws. No, not in a physical sense, but in my deepest part. I know the fact that I am flawed haunts me, angers me, and I seek many solutions other than the one offered by Christ. But what He is asking for is amputation. He wants to offer the freedom that comes from cutting it off and throwing it far away. On one hand I've thought, "Maybe this is too violent. Doesn't the grace of Christ pay for this, and isn't cutting this limb from my life an attempt at self-righteousness? Am I trying to be in charge of my own cleanness and spitting in the face of Christ's mercy and grace?" This hand is right, to a certain extent. A healthy amputation can quickly become an act of self-mutilation if the grace of Christ isn't considered. If we cut off an offensive limb without believing that Christ is sufficient to lavish love and healing in it's place, we spit on Him. If we gauge out an eye in an attempt to make ourselves more worthy or acceptable in His sight, we deem Him incapable of loving us while we were yet sinners (part of what makes Him so amazing). The Great Physician would not prescribe amputation unless it were necessary. As terrifying as it is, we must approach the procedure with complete trust and obedience--anything less would be plastic surgery, a far more terrifying fate.