Good morning,
I can actually remember a time in my life when I could honestly say that
I didn’t need to take any medicine and I felt just great. The first
pill that started my collection was for high blood pressure about 20
years ago when my dad was quite sick and getting ready for heaven.
Since then I have been gradually adding to my collection until now I
have to be careful how I load my weekly pill case so that each days
pills fit into their daily compartment. When I was younger I couldn’t
imagine why I would ever need to spend all that money and have to be so
careful to take the right medicine at the right time. Now I know that,
from a human standpoint, my life depends on these modern life savers.
Actually I am very grateful that I have lived so long and so well, given
all the wear and tear on my body. It has also occurred to me that our
spiritual life pattern is a lot like the one we face physically. When
we are new in our relationship with our Savior we feel that we can face
the challenges of life with just a few helps from Jesus along the way.
That way of thinking is just for spiritual children.
The reality of our spiritual health parallels the effect of time on our
human bodies. Only God knows how much maturing we will have to face if
we are going to be able to represent him accurately to a watching
world. If we are left to ourselves, that’s who we will look like to
those around us, just ourselves. What God longs for is that we become
children of God who look, act and think more and more like him. That
will only be possible if we are willing to welcome the pain of
discipline and rebuke as a part of what our hearts long for in our
relationship with our Savior. The Apostle Paul had to rebuke the church
at Corinth for a serious set of decisions that made the Devil look good
and the God of the Bible look totally out of character. Paul wept over
what he had written because of his love for these people, but he didn’t
back down on God’s standards for godly living. The response of these
Christians to his correction is a wonderful model for us today. They
did what they were told, they repented of their sin and they didn’t see
the correction as an attack. They practiced what David wrote in Psalms
139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious
thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me
along the path of everlasting life. May the Lord help us to take our spiritual medicine gladly so that we really do look and act like Jesus.
2 Corinthians 7:8 I am not sorry that I sent that severe
letter to you, though I was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to
you for a little while. 9 Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt
you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It
was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not
harmed by us in any way.
Roy Wisner
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