Friday, August 03, 2007

Terminal sin

Grand Sweep Daily Reading: Jeremiah 28, 29, 30

Jeremiah 30:12-17 (NIV)
12 This is what the Lord says: “Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing. 13 There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you. 14 All your allies have forgotten you; they care nothing for you. I have struck you as an enemy would and punished you as would the cruel, because your guilt is so great and your sins so many. 15 Why do you cry out over your wound, your pain that has no cure? Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you. 16 But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil. 17 But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,” declares the Lord.

Matthew 8:16-17 (NIV)
16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to [Jesus] and He drove out the spirits with a Word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.”


Good morning!

Every Labor Day weekend when I was a young girl, my family would take a road trip to Rockford, Illinois, to visit Aunt Margaret, Uncle Earl, and cousins, Jeff and Brad. They were my Godparents, and I would have loved to live with them. I adored Aunt Margaret. She epitomized the Proverbs 31 woman in real life! This woman could work all day at a factory, come home at night and cook gourmet meals to eat. She made everyone’s clothes. An expert seamstress, she made suits for her husband and boys to wear to church. Her love of quilting was displayed on every bed in her home. She kept a spotless house, and supplied shuttle service to every football, soccer and tennis match at school. She welcomed neighbors and friends into her home and no ever left there hungry. I don’t know how she made time to do all of these incredible things. I love her even more today. The time I spent with them in Rockford is very precious to me.

There was a weekend when I was injured while playing with my cousins. We were riding bicycles together in the subdivision behind Aunt Margaret’s home. My cousin Jeff was pedaling while I sat on the handlebars. This was not a smart thing to do, but we were having fun together and I didn’t think about the potential consequences of doing such a dangerous thing. Somehow, as Jeff pedaled down the block, I caught my left foot in the spoke of the bicycle wheel and I couldn’t free my ankle. Every time he pedaled, the spokes dug deeper into my foot. I was screaming and bleeding, but Jeff didn’t realize what was happening. We went another half block before he stopped pedaling. He couldn’t brake because my foot wouldn’t let him. We eventually fell over into the street. Jeff ran for help. I was stuck in the spokes and unable to move. I prayed I wouldn’t be hit by an oncoming car. I don’t remember much about how I got from the sidewalk back to my aunt’s house. I do remember that Jeff found a neighbor lady who just happened to be a nurse, and she was able to free my foot from the bicycle and call for help. The bicycle spokes had cut through to the bone and I couldn’t walk. This seemed to be a wound that simply would not heal. My parents made me soak it in Epsom Salts. Can I tell you how much it hurt? You have no idea what that felt like. There just wasn’t enough skin to stitch over the open sore, and so it had to heal that way. It took weeks to close up. I ended up using crutches for awhile, until I could put weight on my foot again. I’m lucky I didn’t break my ankle.

Have you ever made a foolish mistake that left you when an open and bleeding sore? Did you ever fully heal from the pain that it caused? When Jeremiah spoke the Word of the Lord, he said, “Your wound is incurable; an injury beyond healing.” This is what sin does in our life. We run headlong into it, not thinking about the potential consequences. We do not realize that it will permanently scar us for life, and without the touch of the master healer, our open wounds will never close up completely.

The Father knew His people had to turn around and change their ways, if they were ever going to experience healing and wholeness in their life again. Many people did not like the prophet Jeremiah. He was just the messenger. We need to learn not to shoot the messenger in the foot! He is speaking the Word of God and we need to listen, even when the message is painful. God’s Son, Jesus Christ, willingly came to earth in human flesh, to heal our terminal sin. He has the power and authority to remove the scars from your heart and close up the open sores that sin has left behind. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done. Jesus loves you, and He is willing to heal you now, if you will only ask Him to come inside your heart, clean up your act, and be the Lord of your life.

Sin is a painful thing. It may look like fun, but it cuts to the quick. There is only one way to be healed, and that is through the cleansing blood of the Lamb.

Grace and peace,

Deb Spaulding
www.songofdeborah.com


Pray for: healing! That terminal sin you are suffering from can be washed away today. Won’t you ask the Lord of life to heal you, once and for all?
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