Devotional for 3/16/14
The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 1 John 1:7b-10 ESV
We often think of wounds as bad things, but some wounds are necessary for healing and producing good growth. When a surgeon creates an incision, it is a wound. It is carefully placed in order to reach important structures beneath the skin and other layers of the body. Sometimes it is to remove something, like a cancerous growth which if left untouched would spread and kill. Other times it is to repair something that has torn or broken that will not heal correctly on it's own. Some wounds are produced instead by an accident or injury. Even then it may be necessary to open the wound further, as when a doctor debrides it to let healthy tissue grow back. When we clean a wound out with soap and water, we remove debris and even sometimes bits of dead tissue in order to clear the way for medication and to help it heal properly. While opening a wound can be painful, it is sometimes needed.
Life's wounds can be like that also. Sometimes deep wounds are inflicted in childhood that are stuffed inside. Burying the pain may be how people survive initially, but eventually it can create an "infection" within. Those emotional scars can create difficulties later in life with relationships and self esteem issues. Often only by confronting the faulty beliefs and patterns, opening the wound carefully with knowledgeable help, can those problems be healed. Or we may feel that hiding a sin is better than being found out, but if left unchecked that sin can grow and kill us from within like a cancer. Revealing that soul wound in the act of confession can feel like tearing open a huge, gaping lesion. But that is necessary in order to receive healing forgiveness. It allows God's medicinal grace to enter into our hearts and cleanse our souls through the blood of the Lamb, Jesus, Christ. Thank you, Lord, for opening my wounds for your healing, and for suffering the MOST necessary wounds of all for us!
Written by
Jan Andersen
Jan Andersen
This is a good analogy. Opening a would which is aggressive in order help it to heal is often a successful procedure. Sometimes confession and repentance brings pain just like doing so to a would. This treatment allows the poison to go out and healing starts.
ReplyDeleteGod bless..