Enter life as a “cripple” - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell.
Mark 9:45–46

Enter life as a “cripple”
Isn’t this a strange instruction? If your hand, foot or eye causes you to sin, should you cut them off or throw them away? But let’s take a closer look at what Jesus Christ means, focusing especially on the terms “causes to sin” and “cut off” or “throw away”.

In the preceding Bible passage, the Lord warns against causing the little ones or the lowly to stumble, meaning to set a trap for them. We understand this well: it is extremely cruel and disgraceful to cause weaker individuals to stumble.

But in what way can a hand, foot or eye be a stumbling block to ourselves? Well, Jesus is speaking here in figurative language: He wants to show that there are desires within us that we often cannot resist and that ultimately lead to misbehaviour, which the Bible calls sin.

Those who are sincere will recognise that these sins spring from their corrupted selves, from which they want to be delivered. Those who cry out in deep distress, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” will experience that God cleanses their hearts through faith (Luke 18:13; Acts 15:9).

From this point on, the believer will avoid anything that could lead him to sin and will renounce anything that is sinful in God’s eyes. In this sense, he cuts off his foot or hand and tears out his eye. But what kind of quality of life is this? Not being allowed to do anything we like might be considered a “crippled” earthly existence. – Let’s not be short-sighted: it’s better to enter eternal life as a “cripple” than to end up in hell after fully enjoying our earthly life.

Today’s reading: Leviticus 16:1-22 · Psalms 64:1-10