Discovering the perfect hiding place
What God has said isn’t only alive and active! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. His word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts. (Hebrews 4:12)
There is a science to the "dissection" process of butchering meats - much like there must be a "science" to getting at the desires and thoughts of our hearts. God doesn't just go about "butchering" our mind, will, and emotions to get at those things which need to be revealed and separated. He has a skill in what he does and how he does it. He isn't going to yank and pull - creating a case of "tug-a-war" within - but he is going to gently "part" what is responsible for keeping those "deep crevices" of our lives hidden and bound up until they are exposed to his careful attention.
Can a dead thing resist? All it takes for death to occur is the right opportunity and environment for death, decay continuing to do the work which had begun when it was first removed from that which gave it a life source. Sin yields a type of "decay" in our lives - hidden away in the places we don't think can be easily reached; it is allowed to continue the process of death until it is discovered under the careful attention of our Lord's hand. It remains hidden, allowed to continue its work of decaying because sin is really a part of our lives where "separation" from a good life source has occurred. When we are separated from the righteousness of God, death begins to occur. The longer that area is allowed to be hidden in the recesses of our hearts and minds, the more it will "rot" where it is hidden.
This is why God uses great care to get at those recesses of our hearts and minds - so he can help us uncover what is bringing about the "decay" in our lives. It brings a "putrid" kind of "stench" to our character which must be dealt with in order for us to be rid of it. Great care is taken to get at the reason for the decay. We know something exists which is contributing to that odor, but it won't just jump out at us! We have to go after it! Sin isn't just going to "own up" to its hiding place, my friends. We need the tools God provides in order to discover its hiding place and to finally rid ourselves of the putrid decay it has been creating within our inner man.
God's Word is a skilled tool in his hands. God doesn't just "clean house" - he inspects what is there, identifies what doesn't belong, and then sets about to finally and completely remove it. It is done with care - through the revealing power of his Word. God's Word helps us to not only "take inventory" of what is in our lives, it helps us remove what doesn't belong there anymore - those things which will only give off a stench and produce more decay as a result of their presence. Grace is the healing instrument in the process of God separating that which belongs and that which must be removed from our lives. Through the Word, he exposes. By grace, he begins to replace that which was decaying with that which comes with a new life source and with a fragrance only reproducible because it remains attached to that new life source! It is already a dead place in our hearts - that which is dead doesn't belong in the place where we want to reproduce life. Just sayin!
There is a science to the "dissection" process of butchering meats - much like there must be a "science" to getting at the desires and thoughts of our hearts. God doesn't just go about "butchering" our mind, will, and emotions to get at those things which need to be revealed and separated. He has a skill in what he does and how he does it. He isn't going to yank and pull - creating a case of "tug-a-war" within - but he is going to gently "part" what is responsible for keeping those "deep crevices" of our lives hidden and bound up until they are exposed to his careful attention.
Can a dead thing resist? All it takes for death to occur is the right opportunity and environment for death, decay continuing to do the work which had begun when it was first removed from that which gave it a life source. Sin yields a type of "decay" in our lives - hidden away in the places we don't think can be easily reached; it is allowed to continue the process of death until it is discovered under the careful attention of our Lord's hand. It remains hidden, allowed to continue its work of decaying because sin is really a part of our lives where "separation" from a good life source has occurred. When we are separated from the righteousness of God, death begins to occur. The longer that area is allowed to be hidden in the recesses of our hearts and minds, the more it will "rot" where it is hidden.
This is why God uses great care to get at those recesses of our hearts and minds - so he can help us uncover what is bringing about the "decay" in our lives. It brings a "putrid" kind of "stench" to our character which must be dealt with in order for us to be rid of it. Great care is taken to get at the reason for the decay. We know something exists which is contributing to that odor, but it won't just jump out at us! We have to go after it! Sin isn't just going to "own up" to its hiding place, my friends. We need the tools God provides in order to discover its hiding place and to finally rid ourselves of the putrid decay it has been creating within our inner man.
God's Word is a skilled tool in his hands. God doesn't just "clean house" - he inspects what is there, identifies what doesn't belong, and then sets about to finally and completely remove it. It is done with care - through the revealing power of his Word. God's Word helps us to not only "take inventory" of what is in our lives, it helps us remove what doesn't belong there anymore - those things which will only give off a stench and produce more decay as a result of their presence. Grace is the healing instrument in the process of God separating that which belongs and that which must be removed from our lives. Through the Word, he exposes. By grace, he begins to replace that which was decaying with that which comes with a new life source and with a fragrance only reproducible because it remains attached to that new life source! It is already a dead place in our hearts - that which is dead doesn't belong in the place where we want to reproduce life. Just sayin!
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