I have never broken a bone. It is one of my greatest woes,
because among other ailments that I’ve avoided, the absences of them all render
me medically boring. But on the topic of bones, have you ever broken a bone?
My brothers have each broken a few, and I can remember the look
of sheer agony on M’s face as he was leaving for the hospital with a
snapped ulna. When E had broken a bone in his hand, (because he had been
play-fighting and punched another kid too hard {the other kid was fine}) he was
told that the doctor would have to re-set the bone if it was to heal properly.
The procedure was to be anesthesia-free and therefore painful. E was young at
the time and chose not to go through with it. The only lasting result is that he
no longer has a visible knuckle on his right pinky finger.
Part of Philippians 2:15 says, “…children of God in a
crooked and depraved generation…” Why do you think Paul had this opinion of how this generation would be? Let me
tell you my theory.
We are born broken.
The sin in this world shatters our bones and causes us to be
extremely disfigured; nothing like what God wanted us to be. Over time we heal
into mangled, twisted, crooked, and depraved versions of what we were
originally created to be. Our bones have mended themselves in a way that is
slowly restricting our ability to breathe, to move, to live. We will eventually
be choked to death by our injured and damaged bodies.
When we allow Christ to rescue us from this looming fatality,
He takes to us like a surgeon to a patient. He soothes our souls and regenerates
our bodies. He heals us from the inside out. Hebrews 10:10 says, “…we have been
made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Jesus saves our lives.
But we still resist His offer of healing our bones. “It
would be painful! It would take more time than I’m willing to give!” When we
relent to the Holy Spirit’s loving hand, He heals us through a painful process.
He re-breaks our bones and sets them in the way they should have been all
along. By letting God take our sin and asking for His help, He is able to
restore our bones more and more each day.
Faith can be illustrated by this doctor-patient
relationship. Our Great Physician is dedicated to and desperate to heal us of
our terminal illness. When will His patient become humble enough to be cured?
I know that He has promised to heal me,
but have I asked Jesus to break my incorrectly set bones today?
There is a circular garden near where I live
that I like to go to when I pray. I have affectionately dubbed it ‘Jericho,’
because I will walk in circles while I talk to God. While I was there earlier
this evening, I began thinking about this bone illustration.
It is not my bones
that need fixing, it’s my heart.
It’s my motives, my drive, my passion, my
thoughts, and my desires. I want my Jesus to break my heart for what truly
matters! To change my direction completely if that is what is best!
I can do nothing without Christ giving me
strength. I couldn’t even begin. I cannot ever keep from crying when I think of
how He loves me and gave Himself for me. He has so overly abundantly provided
for me, time after time. When I think of Abba, my Father, I am overcome with
the desire to serve Him in even more of every aspect of my life.
My prayer as I write this is that you will
also be overwhelmed by God’s grace and love for you.
