With finessed strength, the good doc managed to draw out the tooth. That tooth did not want to leave the mouth it had known for almost eight decades, but with concerted effort, the dentist managed to coax it to leave its post; that hook though, in its twisted state, resisted, and broke off from the rest of the structure. The curve, the part that ensured remaining in place for year after chewing year, was useful for a very long time, and I cannot help but go into the metaphor that came to mind as I watched the procedure, that crooked roots are difficult to extract, and resistant to letting go, because they serve a purpose in manifold and often duplicitous ways.
Hidden from sight, buried in gum tissue and founded in jaw bone, a crooked root is beyond detection, until x-rays reveal its nature. So too, dear one, with the twisted of heart, that present as pleasantly appealing, whilst infection has taken root in their thinking, in their heart, in their being. I find it fascinating how dangerous an infected mouth can be to a human when untreated. I summarize here what I learned from a quick internet search: bacteria that infects gums, cause gingivitis and periodontitis, and the very same bacteria also travel to blood vessels elsewhere in the body... blood vessel damage, tiny blood clots, heart attack and stroke may follow.
Think with me, what a twisted and perverse heart that has been infected with the roots of jealousy, avarice, covetousness, deception, self-aggrandizement, selfishness, looks like to an all seeing, all knowing, benevolent God. When deeply rooted and untreated, these soul rotters, damage the entirety of the person, and show up as character flaws that infect relationships, and destroy entire families, and communities. Can God uproot these infectious bacteria, and remove them from a person and family? Yes, he can, but a person must be willing to be subject to the remedy he proposes: a person must go to the Great Physician for what may be, a rather painful extraction, that takes time and effort, in the submitting to the cure.
Resistant hooks, persistent clinging to our own ways, deeply rooted beliefs and ways of life, can keep us stubbornly imbedded in our own badness. Perhaps a major part of you would like to be reformed, but there remains a tiny bit, that prefers your perverted, and crookedly rooted ways. God sees this, and he doesn't need to take x-rays - he gave you a conscience so that you would tell on yourself, come clean, and give way to the Sovereign hand that removes what injures, and heals what causes infection.
Jesus, dear one, is the Cure, and he straightens what is twisted, and makes honest people of those that previously, were crooked. All we need do, is hear truth, love truth, speak and live, truth, and trust in him to heal what ails us, in a soulful and satisfying way.
The root of bitterness, the very one that resists God's goodness, must be extracted, dear one, to save not only the body, but the soul, housed therein. It is corruption that temporarily serves in what I hinted, were manifold and duplicitous ways, but this is precisely what damages rapport, trust, and intimate sharing with those we profess to love.
You and I both know when we are being crooked and self-serving. We also know precisely, the where and the why of what we do, even if we try to pretend that we are being thoughtful, generous, or altruistic. We know the difference between serving others and thinking of them first, over putting ourselves first in line, at life's pleasure store. It is humility and being willing to be vulnerable, that soften us from the inside out, and man alive, it is a great wonder, to see how quickly relief comes, when soul infection is treated, and crooked roots are removed.
Ezekiel 36:26
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
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