I noticed blood trickling down my left forearm. I didn’t remember sustaining this wound. I had been working in the field next to the house clearing back some brush. Evidently I had gotten into some thorns or something. I could not remember the pain, and it was a small wound.
I do this often. I suppose I get so focused on what I am doing I can’t remember the pain of the event.
I ignored it. I usually do. No pain, no stitches necessary.
Just ignore it. Just wash it and go on.
That’s what we often do with our wounds. We ignore them. Just forget them and go on. Maybe shed a few tears. No big deal.
It will heal on its own.
There are deeper wounds in the human heart we cannot ignore. Some of them have to do with the brutal reality of grief, an unforgiving wound that never goes away in this world. We can’t ignore this one for it’s pain runs so deep, we tend to avoid it, to just simply not go there. Other wounds relate to how people break our hearts when they betray us, or lie about us, steal things from us, not just touchable things, but untouchable things. They are eviscerating our hearts. They inflict life-crushing wounds with mere words. It does hurt, so very bad it hurts. We often just ignore it and go on, because of the intensity, the numbing pain of it all. Our greatest wounds are inflicted by others, it seems.
But there is a gaping wound in the soul of people, in the soul of humanity, in the soul of men, in the soul of women. It is the greatest wound of all.
It is a self-inflicted wound, and it not only can destroy the body, but more importantly, the soul.
This wound is when we rip ourselves away from God when we sin against him. It is when we take all of this preciousness that he has given to us in the form of our life, this temple we live and breath in, this vessel we abide in, this wondrous being that is us, and thrust a dagger into the heart of our Creator and cause him a wound with our sin. For God can be wounded when his children turn their backs on their Father when they betray the one who gave them this gift, this mysterious and stunningly incomprehensible life.
Sin is when we rebel against God and when we do that, the ultimate result is separation. Separation in this life from him in that rebellion and ultimately in eternal separation in a place that Scripture refers to often—hell.
In 587 BC, Jerusalem experienced one of the greatest wounds in that nation’s history. Because of their sin against their holy God, and after repeated attempts by God through his prophets to rescue them through his call to repentance, God finally used the evil Babylonian empire to invade and punish them for their sin. If it were not for God’s ultimate grace, they may have vanished from the earth. It breaks God’s heart when we abandon him and when he disciplines us it is for the purpose of saving us from a much worse fate, the fate of eternal separation from him.
As Jeremiah cried out in Lamentations 2:13 (NET), “Your wound is as deep as the sea, who can heal you? The wound in the nation was self-inflicted because of their deep and abiding sin in rebellion against their Holy God. The wound was both the deep soul-crunching sin as well as the consequences of that sin.
God descended into their cauldron of judgment with them, even though they had created their own spiritual separation from him. We also read in Lamentations 3:22-24 (NET) that this same God who launched them into judgment, also gave them hope:
“The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases; his compassions never end. They are fresh every morning; your faithfulness is abundant! “My portion is the Lord,” I have said to myself, so I will put my hope in him.
This is the gospel, my friend, in its simplicity and entirety. We sin against God in rebellion and his holiness demands justice in judgment, yet his mercy provides forgiveness and reconciliation with him because of what Christ did on the Cross in our place.
And it is his wounds on the cross for us that heal our every wound. Another prophet, Isaiah told us of this:
He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5 ESV).
Whatever wound you have, bring it to him. He heals, forgives and loves you, and will walk beside you. He will cleanse your wound, your sin, your heart, your soul, your brokenness.
Don’t ignore this wound.
It cannot heal on its own.
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We can come to know Christ through confession of our sins and repentance (turning away from sin). Let me encourage you to do this by talking to God through prayer. Here is an idea of how you might do that:
"Dear God, I believe your son Jesus Christ died in my place on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day following his death. I confess my sins, all of them, to you now with a humble heart. I repent of those sins and ask you to empower me with your Holy Spirit in overcoming further sin. Amen”
If you prayed this or a similar prayer committing your life to Christ and becoming one of his followers, let me encourage you to find a good, Bible-believing church.
Begin talking to God in prayer and reading the Bible daily. A good way to begin to read the Bible is to start with the Book of John in the New Testament. Feel very free in connecting with me if you need any further help in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. You can do this via the above email or facebook page or this web page.
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Mercy Road Ministries was founded and now led by Ben Bounds. Ben has pastored churches across Texas for over thirty years and is an ordained minister with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). He holds a BA in Pastoral Ministry and Biblical Studies from Southwestern Assemblies of God College and did graduate theological studies at the BMA Theological Seminary. Ben's first book, The Divine Chase: Responding to a Pursuing God, was released on 12.08.2017 through Westbow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. It is available in paperback and hardback through your preferred bookseller (Mardels, Barnes and Noble, etc.) and paperback, hardback as well as ebook through online book retailers (www.christianbook.com, www.cokesbury.com, www.amazon.com, www.booksamillion.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, etc.).
Ben is the host of Staying in Bounds, an on-air Bible devotional broadcast multiple times daily on KWJV 103.7 FM Weslaco, TX which can also be heard worldwide online at www.kwjvthestar.com.
Ben and his wife, Linda, together have four adult children and nine grandchildren. They live in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Ben can be contacted for preaching engagements at benbounds695@gmail.com or 903.441.3279. Ben can also be contacted via his website @ www.benbounds.com, which is also his blog and contains more information about his ministry. Follow Ben @ https://www.facebook.com/mercyroadministries/ and this website www.benbounds.com.
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©2019 by Ben Bounds. All rights reserved.
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