It's already done - Devotion for 10/22/08

It’s already done – Devotion for 10/22/08

Like it or not, almost all of us get to go through the experience of having our wisdom teeth removed. Most of us have it done around our late teens or maybe even early twenties, and I think I had mine done back when I was 19. I remember when I had mine done I went in that day prepared for anything. I remember sitting in the chair and having a delightful conversation with the cute dental assistant, I remember them putting the mask over my mouth and nose, and I remember the doctor telling me, “Ok, we’re done.” I was stunned that it had already been done, because I knew I didn’t hurt at that moment (yes – the pain was yet to come), and I just knew it had only been a second before that I was still chatting with the cute dental assistant (did I mention she was cute?). As my Dad helped me walk to the car, I was still filled with utter and complete amazement that my wisdom teeth had already been removed. Truly, it was done before I knew it.

This morning as I read during my devotion time, I read from Matthew 9, and at the first part of this chapter, some people bring to Jesus a paralytic who is lying on a bed. Jesus sees the faith of the ones who brought the man to him, and Jesus says, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”(Matthew 9:2) Suddenly some of the scribes who were nearby and overheard what Jesus said started freaking out, saying to each other that Jesus had blasphemed God because he had forgiven the man’s sins, and that was only something God alone could do. So Jesus turns to these skeptics and says, “Which is easier, to say ‘Your sins are forgive,’ or to say ‘Get up and walk’?” And then to show them who He truly is, he then turns to the paralytic and says, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” And the dude gets up and goes home!

I wonder when the paralyzed man was healed. You’ve got to know that ever since he had become paralyzed, whether it was from birth or later, he had prayed to be made complete. You can only imagine how many times he had doubted God, and you can only imagine the jealousy and even hatred that had built up within his heart. But when Jesus said to him, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven,” do you think only his sins were removed, or his complete condition? I don’t have the answer to that question, but the next time Jesus addresses the dude all he says is essentially “Get up and go home.” I tend to lean towards the possibility that the man was healed the moment Jesus told him his sins were forgiven, and he just didn’t yet know that his prayers had been answered. I think he didn’t yet know that he was healed because his mind was still conditioned to the limitations life had put on him.

I once read about the training of elephants begins when they are infants. As an infant, a rope is put around their neck and they will be tied to a stake in the ground, and the infant elephant will pull, tug, and struggle against the rope trying to break free, however eventually the elephant will accept his condition and quit fighting. From that point on in the life of the elephant, the trainer only has to use the exact same size rope, because in the mind of the elephant, it still has accepted the condition of bondage. I’ve read that in some cases a trainer can even quit tying the rope to a stake because the elephant accepts the condition of bondage the moment the rope is put on his neck. I believe that we have been set from all of our limitations. I believe that Jesus came to remove us from bondage to sin and death, yet I believe we still keep sitting as if we are still in that bondage. Not only are our sins forgiven, but many of the things we’ve been praying for has already been done. The strength to face the battles ahead of us? It’s already done. The patience to endure the difficulties? It’s already done. The ability to reach out and help a friend? It’s already done. Today, look for the ways we still are living tied to the stake of bondage, and know that we’ve already been set free.