Years ago I
sat down to work, my eyes strained as I threaded a needle, put it down to pinch
two seams together, and started to sew them.
It was painstaking work, and the stitches had to be small so they wouldn’t
show and close enough the seam would remain tight. Poor teddy had been worn out by the love and
attention of my child but I was hoping the repair job would comfort her
distraught heart.
Binding up
wounds of child and favorite stuffed friends is one of the many jobs of a
mother. Over the years I have bound up
many such wounds but someone else had that job first. His name is Jehovah, “He heals the
broken-hearted, and binds up their wounds.” (Ps. 147:3) It isn’t just our bodies that He heals but
our broken hearts and woundedness (Is. 61:1).
By His mercy and compassion, He brings comfort. “Blessed be
God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the
God of all comfort,” (2Cor. 1:3), “But you, Lord, are a compassionate God…” (Ps. 86:15)
It is also
the job of each of us to take care of those who are wounded. Jesus, in reply of the question ‘who is my
neighbor?’ told the story of the Good Samaritan. (Samaritan’s were despised by
the many Jews for being of impure heritage and mixed religious beliefs) The Samaritan helped the wounded Jewish man, even
though a priest and Levite passed him by.
And coming near, he
bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and set him on his own animal and
brought him to an inn, and took care of him. Lk. 10:34
Notice the
Samaritan didn’t just bind the wounds and take off. He took special care to prevent infection and
soothe. He helped the wounded man to a
place where he could be cared for, stayed for the night to see he was all
right, and then paid for his care with his own money, all because he was “moved
with compassion.” (v.33)
It sounds to
me like this Samaritan was acting a bit like Jehovah. Hmmm.
Being like the Lord? Isn’t that
what we’re supposed to do? “So be
imitators of God, as his dear children.” (Eph. 5:1) Does that mean we should act like Him in
status? No! What it means is that we should act towards
one another (human to human) as He acts towards us: with love, compassion, mercy, grace, favour, selflessness, forgiveness,
kindness, giving comfort, binding wounds, and all His other loving actions.
Certainly, we
will fail time and again because we are just human, but as Christians we should
desire to be more like the Lord thus fulfilling the second commandment “…You
shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt. 22:39) Surely, God’s loving actions to us helped
stir in us a desire to belong to Him. By
binding up the wounds, being compassionate (and other ways like God) towards
others, they will see the love of the Lord through us and may be drawn to
belong to Him as well.
Imagine...
Our actions may help someone be saved from
eternal damnation to forever live with the
Lord!
Yes Lord, please help us to be like You,
and open our eyes to see the wounds that need to be bound!