I love to suture. Of all the things I do in my job, suturing is what I enjoy the most. It is so rewarding to take an ugly wound and draw the edges together, leaving only a thin scar behind.
Many times, however, the damage is too extensive for a simple repair. In those cases, I have to cut away the dead and damaged tissue and undermine the edges before the wound can be repaired.
With my scalpel I outline where my final edges are going to be, then, taking sharp scissors, I cut away all the damaged tissue in between. I then undermine the edges, so they can be stretched back into position.
When I’ve finished excising the torn and jagged edges, quite often the wound is larger than it was initially, but stitch-by-stitch, knot-by-knot, I slowly draw the wound closed. What was once a jagged tear is now a thin line. Within about a year, the scar will be hardly noticeable.
Our lives are filled with open wounds. Broken relationships, disappointed hopes, our foolish mistakes, have left us broken and bleeding, with ugly gaps in our soul. The torn and jagged edges of our hearts seem beyond repair.
But the great physician will not leave us that way. With the delicate skill of a surgeon, He uses His Word, like a scalpel to trim back the tattered edges of our lives, cutting away the damage done by sin, penetrating “even to the dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow.” Hebrews 4:12 NIV
As we read the Bible, He reveals to us “the thoughts and attitudes of the heart,” showing us what needs to go and what can stay. He undermines our false conceptions and beliefs, so the edges of our souls can be stretched back into alignment with His will.
Even the finest plastic surgeon leaves a scar, but when our Heavenly Father is done no trace of sin will be left behind. We will have “become a new person. The old life is gone. New life has begun.” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT)
Today, come to the Great Physician. Show Him your wounds, lay bare your soul, open to Him the jagged edges of your broken heart. Open His Word and let Him start repairing the damage done by sin. Let Him cut and probe, removing all that separates you from Him.
His healing touch will do more than repair your heart. It will transform your soul, so that one day, when you look in the mirror, you will not see your scars. You will only see Him.