The point is, either way, it’s going to hurt!! It’s not going to feel good to chop off a hand, to lose a foot, or to gouge out an eye. Jesus spoke of body parts to represent people and things that lead us to sin because it’s not easy to remove them from our lives. We get accustomed to having two hands, two feet, and two eyes. We also get accustomed to our sin. The problem, however, is that sin leads to eternal death! It hurts to cut off a hand – it’s worse to enter an eternal hell.

Following Jesus is a call – a drastic, counter-culture call – to decide which pain and which pleasure we believe is most satisfying and valuable. We will know pain and pleasure whether or not we follow Jesus. The question is which pain and which pleasure can you live with?