By David ReayTuesday 5 Oct 2021LifeWords DevotionalsDevotionsReading Time: 2 minutes
Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit. (NLT)
Some of us get to know our doctors rather well. Our minds and bodies impel us to seek them out. What do we expect from our doctors? It is necessary that they be available, that their busy schedule doesn’t mean they are unreachable.
We want an accurate diagnosis of what is bothering us. And on top of that we want some sort of remedy for what is bothering us. Diagnosis and remedy belong together. To cap it all off, we want the doctor to explain clearly to us just what is going on. We want to know what is wrong, how it can be put right rather than be subject to some mysterious process where we are kept in the dark.
Which brings us to God the Father and Jesus his Son. First, our God is always available, doesn’t hand over to some cosmic locum. Next, our problem has been clearly diagnosed: we have gone away from God and suffer the effects of our estrangement from him. That problem has been effectively remedied by Jesus enduring the consequences of that estrangement and overcoming the evil powers that sustained it in us.
And it has been explained to us through the written scriptures. Just like medical terminology, not all is crystal clear, but we have enough information to know that we are in good hands, that we what is bothering us is being treated.
One more thing: our doctors may be busy people and sometimes they lack what we term “bedside manner”. But it is a bonus if we believe we are truly cared for as a person and not just as a billing item. When it comes to bedside manner, Jesus has got it in spades.
Blessings,
David