Bible Reading: Hebrews 4:12-13
The word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. Hebrews 4:12
“HOW BAD is it, Doc?” the patient asks. “Tell me the truth.”
”I’m afraid it’s bad-very bad,” the doctor replies. “If I don’t perform major surgery and remove the tumor, you will die in a matter of weeks.”
“I don’t want surgery, Doc. It will hurt.”
The doctor smiles. “You won’t feel a thing during the surgery.”
“But there will be pain after the surgery, maybe for weeks, right?”
“We have medications to reduce the pain.”
“But the incision will still hurt a little and the shots will hurt.”
“Well, yes, there is always some pain involved in a major-”
The patient interrupts. “No surgery then. I don’t like owies.”
“Owies? You’re whining like a three-year-old! Get a hold of yourself, man! Nobody likes pain, but I’m afraid it’s unavoidable.”
The patient shakes his head. “It is avoidable, because I won’t have surgery.”
“I don’t think you understand,” the surgeon says with a look of shock. “You have a choice: Four to five weeks of minor pain and discomfort followed by many years of pain-free life, or four to five weeks of pain-free life followed by major pain, as in death.
Are you telling me that you would cut short your own life to avoid a little pain?”
”I’m saying I hate pain, and surgery is painful, so I’m not having surgery.”
If you’re normal, you make it a rule in your life to avoid pain whenever possible. But no sane person shies away from the surgeon’s life-saving knife because he’s scared it will cause an owie. You know that sometimes pain produces something good, whether it’s the pain of a must-do medical procedure, the effort of a sweaty fitness workout, or the agony of attending your little brother’s tuba recital when you would rather be hanging with your friends.
God’s Word can hurt too. The writer of Hebrews pictures God’s Word as a surgeon’s scalpel. God, the master surgeon, knows exactly where cancers of wrong thoughts and desires lurk. And he knows that those diseases will destroy you if they aren’t sliced out. His Word is the instrument he uses to cut you open, bring those issues to light, and show you how to get rid of them.
So whenever you read the Bible and feel the pain of God’s scalpel digging in to convict or correct you, don’t pull away. The Great Physician only allows the hurt because he loves you and wants to help you to spiritual health.
REFLECT: How is God using his Word like a scalpel in your life? Are you pulling away or letting him do his healing work?
PRAY: Thank your Lord today for sending his Word to heal you.