Monday, July 23, 2007

Just a Band-Aid

A little girl came to her dad crying because she had gotten a splinter in her finger. As she held it crying for help he took her into the bathroom, dug the tweezers out of the drawer, laid out the tube of antiseptic ointment, some alcohol, and a Band-Aid.

As the little girl looked at all the stuff laid out on the counter, she didn’t like what she saw. It all looked a little too painful, involving more than she imagined. She said, “Daddy, I just want the Band-Aid.”

Are we like that with Jesus? We come to Him with our sin and all we really want is a Band-Aid not a cure. Just cover it up. I mean we do talk about the covering of Jesus’ blood. Doesn’t it say somewhere in the Bible that love covers a multitude of sins? (1 Peter 4:8)

Sin not only needs to be forgiven. It needs to be removed, rooted out, like the splinter. If it is just covered over, like the splinter, it will cause infection, swelling, pain, and maybe even cause more serious consequences. That infection from a small splinter can spread through an entire body and cause serious sickness and possibly even death. It needs more than a Band-Aid!

When the woman who had been caught by her friends in the act of adultery was brought to Jesus He declared that He did not condemn her, but then He said, “Go, and sin no more.”

So we need to ask for more than just covering, we need the splinter removed. That which causes infection and pain. The forgiveness from the Lord comes quickly, immediately. He covers the sin and Jeremiah says He “will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34)

So the covering that really makes a difference begins with exposing, rooting out, uncovering.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I want more than a Band-Aid. I want to expose the sin, the failure to You so it can be removed. Then the Band-Aid can do more than just temporarily cover the sin until it becomes inflamed requiring more attention. It can promote real healing and recovery from the effects of sin.

Blessings!
Pastor Roger

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