The Scars.

I used to have a scar on my leg. It has faded now, but when I was younger it was quite visible. Especially in the sunshine when I got a little bit of suntan on my legs. The wound would glow an angry red colour.

I remember exactly how I got it. I was taking part in a competition with a youth organisation and the section that I was in involved walking through some barbed wire. I slipped on wet ground and fell right into the middle of the wire and made a 5 inch gash in my leg. I was taken to the medical van nearby where a doctor recommended that I have it stitches inserted to close the wound. But I refused to have them.

You see, I remember another time at a very early age where I received a nasty wound that needed stitches and I remembered the pain and the crying that came with the stitches. I didn’t want to feel that pain again. And so, I refused the treatment. The wound took a bit longer to heal, but I survived.

I don’t believe that I was afraid of getting stitches for I have been through more serious surgeries. I was just afraid of the pain associated with them.

But time, and maturity, teaches us many things. One thing we learn is that sometimes the severe pain is only temporary. In time it will fade. And sometimes we have to go through this pain to reach a painless cure. Dentists are a good example of that. We have to go through the pain of treatment in order to get rid of a toothache.

I was able to share this thought with a woman recently. She was a woman in her 60’s who had decided to run her first ever marathon. She had trained for months for it and she felt she was ready for it. During our conversation I said to her, “The pain will only last for a couple of days but the memory of running the marathon will be with you for the rest of your life”. I checked a few days later and found out that she had completed the marathon for her club.

Jesus was afraid of the interrogation and the Cross that was ahead of Him. He prayed earnestly in the garden of Gethsemane…..

Matthew ch26 (37) Then He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, James and John, along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. (38) Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." (39) Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." 

But Jesus knew that He had to go through it all because of the love for His people.

He was tied to a post, then scourged and whipped beyond all recognition. His hair torn out by the roots. Spat on. Blindfolded and punched. And amongst it all, he looked into the eyes of Peter who had just moments ago denied Him....

Luke ch22 (61) The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times." 

There is not a human being alive who would not be afraid of something like that.

Repentance from sin takes a lot of humility. It takes a lot for someone to freely admit that they were wrong. And some people can never bring themselves to do it. They will live the rest of their lives with a false bravado and find reasons and excuses to ever bring themselves into a place of repentance before God.

Thankfully, we have a God who loves us and will not be punishing us for ever. The penalty of sin has been taken away. And we have been given the chance to start over again living a life worshipping God and learning more about Him and His love.

Ephesians ch1 (7) In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 

I chickened out of getting those stitches because of the memory of an older painful experience, but Jesus knew that this was the only way that God’s people could be redeemed….

Hebrews ch12 (2) “….For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God….” 

 My eyes haven’t seen, nor have my ears heard, what the father has in store.
But when I hear the sound of a sweet singing bird I’m closer than I’ve been before.
To that heavenly home. Built by God alone, according to his perfect plan.
Where the only thing there that’s been made by man are the scars in the hands of Jesus.


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