When I read this Bible verse today:
The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying
"I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness." (Jeremiah 31:3, NASB)
I quickly remembered a line from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers movie where Gandalf tells Saruman he will "draw him" from the possessed king of Rohan "like poison from a wound". The comparison to the scripture in Jeremiah left me aghast at just how far my Abba has gone to demonstrate His unquestionable love for me.
(Warning: this may be a little unsettling to the queasy stomach!) Unfortunately, I've had my fair share of infected wounds, boils, sties, warts, mosquito bites and bee stings where the best remedy for the wound was to "draw out" the yuck...the poison held within. Once expelled, the surrounding skin could now do it's real work of repairing, healing and restoring the area that had once been "diseased". It's the same thing with a venomous snake bite...so I've been told. You have to suck out the poison to save the bitten victim.
I am a very visual person. To picture my Abba slathering His compassion (another word for lovingkindness) all over the putrifying, infected, "yuck" of my soul is breathtaking beyond words. He says here in Jeremiah that His compassion/lovingkindness "draws" us. Wow!
You can absolutely interpret this passage to mean that He draws us to Him. But today...by His grace...He gave me a little different meaning. Praise God He draws me to Him...but He has also slathered His lovingkindness in the form of compassion all over my soul and "drawn" out of me the yuck that has infected my life from day one. When the yuck is gone...He can finally get to His real work of repairing, healing and restoring that area of my life. Amen!
Now, we live in a fallen world and our wounds will continue to fester to varying degrees and sometimes just when one wound heals, another breaks wide open...but I am so thankful for the Cure that never fails to "draw" me. Amen!
The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying
"I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness." (Jeremiah 31:3, NASB)
I quickly remembered a line from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers movie where Gandalf tells Saruman he will "draw him" from the possessed king of Rohan "like poison from a wound". The comparison to the scripture in Jeremiah left me aghast at just how far my Abba has gone to demonstrate His unquestionable love for me.
(Warning: this may be a little unsettling to the queasy stomach!) Unfortunately, I've had my fair share of infected wounds, boils, sties, warts, mosquito bites and bee stings where the best remedy for the wound was to "draw out" the yuck...the poison held within. Once expelled, the surrounding skin could now do it's real work of repairing, healing and restoring the area that had once been "diseased". It's the same thing with a venomous snake bite...so I've been told. You have to suck out the poison to save the bitten victim.
I am a very visual person. To picture my Abba slathering His compassion (another word for lovingkindness) all over the putrifying, infected, "yuck" of my soul is breathtaking beyond words. He says here in Jeremiah that His compassion/lovingkindness "draws" us. Wow!
You can absolutely interpret this passage to mean that He draws us to Him. But today...by His grace...He gave me a little different meaning. Praise God He draws me to Him...but He has also slathered His lovingkindness in the form of compassion all over my soul and "drawn" out of me the yuck that has infected my life from day one. When the yuck is gone...He can finally get to His real work of repairing, healing and restoring that area of my life. Amen!
Now, we live in a fallen world and our wounds will continue to fester to varying degrees and sometimes just when one wound heals, another breaks wide open...but I am so thankful for the Cure that never fails to "draw" me. Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment