Wounds and Welts and Open Sores
Why should you be beaten anymore?
Why do you persist in rebellion?
Your whole head is injured,
your whole heart afflicted.
From the sole of your foot to the top of your head
there is no soundness—
only wounds and welts
and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged
or soothed with oil.
Isaiah 1:5-6
Have you ever had a severe sunburn and then had someone come and put their hand on you? With such an affliction even the clothes on your back hurt. Here in Isaiah, we see Israel, a people that has open sores, wounds and welts from the top of the head to the soles of their feet. Can you imagine the agony? Every aspect of their being will have a heightened sensitivity to any contact whatsoever.
We, as Christians, are called to minister to such a people and to do it with a compassion and genuine empathy that makes us effective witnesses of the love of Christ. Where are we supposed to get such ability and what will it cost us to obtain it? Are we like the Church of Laodicea in the Book of Revelation,
"You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see." Rev 3:17-18
Do we need to go buy some of this gold tried in the fire, or these white clothes to cover our nakedness or salve for our eyes? This is not something that we’re going to obtain in Bible School or Weekend Seminars (not that these are bad), but must be gotten in the fire of tribulation. The salve must come from the Holy Ghost when our utter blindness to Kingdom realities is made known to us and we cry out to Him for help.
Are you in some unexplainable agony now? Irritable to the touch by those around you who are oblivious to your condition? This just might be an answer to those prayers you uttered years ago when you asked for a true ministry of the Spirit, or pleaded to become more like Him.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 2nd Corinthians 1:3-5
Sunday, March 25, 2007
