There was a news item the other day about a man who made a doctor’s appointment to check for diabetes. He apparently felt the need of some alcoholic-type of fortification prior to the appointment, so he imbibed. Quite heavily, it appears. So much so that he passed out and when he came to, he discovered that he was missing one of his big toes. His dog had chewed it off! As my granddaughters would say, “Eeewwwweee, yuck!”

But that’s not the end of this item, we need to look at “the rest of the story.” It turns out that he was diabetic and his injured toe was gangrenous. By chewing off the toe, the dog saved his life. I’ve read about animals chewing off their own diseased paws and I guess this instinct may have been the dog’s motivation here. But, let’s see if there’s a spiritual lesson here.

The man lost his toe BUT, in so doing, saved his temporal life. What a great parabolic illustration to Christ’s teaching about being tempted into sin. Read with me from Matt. 18:8-9 “And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.” (ESV)

So then, what’s more important – a toe or your physical life? What’s more important – an earthly body part or your eternal life? Jesus is simply drawing us a picture that points out the relative importance of the “earthly” versus the “eternal.” It’s a decision that we each have to make. To paraphrase the words of the old knight in the movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark” – “Choose wisely.”

–Ron Covey