Mark 9:47

"And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire."
Mark 9:47


Please, none of you pluck out your eyes.  I think this is more figurative than literal.  The scripture is showing us the relative importance of achieving the Kingdom of God.  If there is something about us that is getting in our way, then we need to let it go... whatever it is, and however important to us.  And we all have those things... those pesky arms and legs and eyes that cause us to stumble... but you know, it isn't really the physical parts of us that cause that, but the mental blocks we set up for ourselves.  We think that if God asks too much of us that we will walk away... or if something really bad happens in our lives that he has forgotten us.  We start wanting this or that addiction more than we want God, or we twist something in our life around and worship it to the exclusion of all else.  Sometimes letting those things go hurts more than plucking your eye out or cutting off your arm or your leg... and the analogy is real.  It is like losing a part of yourself.  But heaven is better than hell fire, every time.  And if we value that "eye" more than eternity, then we will still lose it in the end... because when we have built our lives around one obsession and it is gone, what will be left to us?  Our addictions will not be fed in the hereafter.  The pain of plucking out your eye and learning to see differently is great... learning to change your heart and mind is difficult.  But these things are worth it, and passing our earthly tests is more than possible, with God's help.