When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” John 8:10-11
It’s a great setup. I’ve written several times about my early morning routine. It involves coffee, the weather report and Jesus. I am a creature of habit and mess with my habits, and it messes me up. But sometimes I do something a little different that just works better. When I fell a couple of months ago and messed up my hand, my wife Judy donated a little lap desk to help me study and write. Well, she never took it back, so it became…mine. I also found out that this little desk made a great addition to my routine as it is a great place to put my iPad and my coffee cup. Boom. Things just got better.
Well, the other morning I was sipping coffee and using my iPad to read a couple of devotions. The guy I was reading wrote about scars and as I was reading…I was looking. You see, my hands have several scars and each one is a story. On my right thumb is one that reminds me of the ten year old (or so) who was cutting watermelon and ignored his Daddy’s advice about how to use a knife. On my middle finger of my right hand, right on the knuckle, is an inch long scar caused by my careless use of an X-Acto knife I was using to build a model car or plane.
Let’s look at my left hand. On my index finger are two scars…close together. One was caused when I was riding with my sister and her then boyfriend in his car. The car in front of us stopped…and he didn’t. This was before seatbelts and when I headed for the windshield, I threw my hand up to protect my head. I guess it worked but I did cut my hand up in the process. I guess hand is better than head. The other scar was a woodcutting thing. I didn’t cut it with the saw or you might be calling me “Three Fingers.” No, a piece of wood that was in a bind slipped and whacked my hand leaving a nasty gash.
There are a couple of smaller scars on both hands but their birth didn’t garner a memory. I do have a couple of scars in other places, like the one by my eye which happened on a racquetball court. A guy hit me with his racket on that one. But by and large most of my physical scars are on my hands because that is where all the action is. In other words, whatever you put out there in life will probably get scarred…like our hearts. All of us probably have some scars left when we put our heart out there and someone wounded us. It’s just life.
But now for the bigger story. Remember that scars may be a sign of a painful wound…but they are also a sign of healing. The scars that are on my hands were bleeding and painful when they happened but gradually they healed over and the bleeding stopped and they healed over. That’s a good thing. Now you know and I know that wounds on our heart are a whole different animal. They may heal but it often takes more than some antibiotic cream and a Band-Aid. They say that time heals all wounds and that might be partially true. Time does help but time can’t always heal. The good news is there is something…Someone…who can heal and His name is Jesus.
My friend Jesus is a healer of hearts. When He walked the earth, He amazed the people in many ways…twice He gave everyone a free lunch. But countless times He would take the broken, the castaways and lovingly put their lives back together. I love the story when a woman was caught in adultery. The religious people wanted to stone her but Jesus chose to love her. I suppose in my life, and in yours, there have been some stoning opportunities but here is one thing I know. Jesus isn’t a rock chucker—He is a heart healer and He wants to help heal yours today.
So, how about it? Do you have some wounds on your heart that time just hasn’t taken care of? Are you still hurting from a train wreck in life years ago? Why not give Jesus the opportunity to help? “How” you ask? Well, why not try asking? It is called prayer and trust me it is worth a shot. The other key element is faith—believing that He is there listening. Don’t be surprised if the first thing you hear is Him asking you to forgive because forgiving others always helps heal our own wounds. So, when you are done reading, why not start praying. He is waiting and He is willing. He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 