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A good friend in Lake City, Florida, uses this title phrase as an exaggerated way of expressing how good or enjoyable a thing is. He will say, “Why, that is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.”
The Lord used something similar to warn the Israelites of the dangers of leaving pagan inhabitants in the land of Canaan. Moses declared, “But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell” (Numbers 33:55). The word “pricks” is from a word that depicts the sharp-pointed thorny portion of a briar. Getting one of those in the eye will be painful and may cause permanent damage. God’s clear message to Israel: Do NOT neglect to rid the land of ALL pagan influences.
Young Christians who have taken a wrong road in life, and then realized the need to be restored to their first love for Jesus will want to consider this principle. Being “transformed” into a living sacrifice for the Lord (Romans 12:1-2) will require breaking all ties that bind them to “the wrong crowd.”
Adult Christians who have allowed some weakness to hold them back from full devotion to Christ Jesus need to cut and burn “the briars.” Paul said he would only glory in “the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:14).
J. Brooks Boyd Jr.
Livingston Church of Christ
Livingston, TN