“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12, ESV)
Have you ever had surgery? Were you nervous? I was, because I’m a normal human being who realizes that hearts are delicate organs, and the thought of my heart in a surgeon’s hands was a bit unsettling.
But I also knew that my heart had a problem. It wasn’t working properly. And if I wanted to live a full and healthy life, I needed to trust the surgeon and the scalpel he wielded. I knew that his desire was not to hurt me (though there would be months of painful recovery) but ultimately to fix my defective heart and restore my quality of life.
In my quest for a deeper life with Christ, I’ve also had to trust the scalpel in the hands of the ultimate Surgeon. When I came to Jesus, my spiritual heart was defective and needed major surgery! But even since that life-changing event, my brokenness still sometimes shows through, my head gets wrong ideas, and there are areas that need to be strengthened and healed.
My loving Surgeon continues His work by using the steady scalpel of His Word, and I must expose myself to its blade if I desire to become fully like Him. I must allow it to cut deep, to refuse to shrink back from its piercing truth, to lay myself open to its faithful probing. Going deep requires complete openness and vulnerability, but if I want to experience real life, abundant life, it is worth every painful moment.
Our Surgeon is good, and His scalpel is trustworthy.
Originally published in God’s Revivalist. Used by permission.
