The Cure

2 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

I have arthritis in one knee and I know that losing weight would be the best thing for it, but I would rather take a pill, have an injection or even undergo surgery to treat that pain. I need to lose weight, which I know how to do, I just do not want to go through the work of doing it. I would rather find some magic pill that makes me lose weight without doing any work. Even in my addiction, I researched medications that I thought might fix my addiction. I did not want to go through actual treatment. That would be miserable. I always want the cure that costs me the least. I want the easy road.

I think we all do this in some ways in our faith. I think we often resist that which we know is the treatment for all of our ills. In the passage today, Peter says that Jesus in the cure that heals our greatest wounds. On the cross, he took on all of our addictions, destruction, pride, lust, anger, selfishness and greed. Through his death, He freed us from the eternal consequences of our destruction. We are forgiven and we are eternally saved. This is the beautiful message of the gospel, that no matter what we have done, God forgives us and heals us. He is the answer to that which we need most in life.

So why would I ever resist him? I think I resist God because I know what accepting his cure means. It means that I am to die to sin and live to righteousness. The plain reality is, that I want God’s forgiveness without actually changing anything. God, can’t you just take away my misery without causing any discomfort to me? I do not want to follow Christ and abandon self, I just want to feel good. The truth however, is that while Jesus has paid the price for my healing, my healing does cost me all of me. If I want the pain and misery of my flesh nature to go, I have to be willing to give up the pursuits of that flesh nature.

God is always the answer to my greatest needs. I however, always seek an easier treatment. What I need, is to daily choose to turn from self and to accept God’s healing.