A Fragmented Life

“Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” (John 6:12 NKJV)

While in a shop on vacation I was reading little signs on a rack while Hannah and my wife were shopping. One I really liked read, “Humpty Dumpty was pushed.” We all know Humpty and his fate but to think that he did not just fall but was rather pushed off the wall stretches the limits of our imaginations when it comes to reading things into fairy tales! Knowing that all the king’s horses and all the king’s men could not put him back together leaves us feeling sorry for an egg.

Reading the account of Jesus feeding the thousands on the sea shore that day gives us some insight into how He thinks. I know He was talking about the scraps left over from the fish and bread when He made this statement but I also know it can be related to His heart toward us. There are hundreds, even thousands of people today that have broken lives. Families that have split up, a relationship that has ended, a job that has been taken away, a chronic diagnosis, a loved one that has died, can all cause a life to be disintegrated. All that is left over sometimes are fragments.

I am glad to know that Jesus cares about the fragments! Jesus wants nothing to be lost. That is why He came and died on the Cross to begin with; that we may be saved. He can put lives back together. He could have put Humpty Dumpty back together. Wouldn’t that be a better ending to the tale? All the king’s horses and all the king’s men could not put Humpty together again; but a Man named Jesus came along and did it.

He has a fix for you today. His grace can glue you back together and is sufficient enough to keep you in one piece. He can heal a broken heart, a broken bone, or a broken life. Let Him gather up the fragments and make you whole once again.

Conviction Anger

So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!”  (2 Samuel 12:5 NKJV)

I used to teach anger management in my former job before becoming a pastor. I was handing out notes to the class when I came up one short at one table of participants. The guy jokingly said, “That’s it! I’m mad now!”

Anger is usually aroused in us when things do not go our way, or in the case of David, it would be considered moral anger. Moral anger causes us to get angry when someone else has been wronged. In the case of David however the anger he felt was designed to exemplify the anger God feels toward us when we transgress His law. We sometimes forget that because God is a loving and forgiving God that He somehow overlooks our sin without it affecting Him personally. But He does not. He is a jealous God and His anger is aroused when we ignore His commands and do our own thing.

I do not know about you but sometimes hearing the truth about me can arouse my anger. When I think I am doing well and the Lord sends conviction upon my heart it causes me to place blame before taking the blame. The truth will set us free Jesus taught. Hearing the truth is Gods way of delivering us from bondage. David had been hiding his sin for quite sometime but when the truth came out, and it always will, he was ready to kill another man for doing the same thing he had done on a larger scale!

Next time the Holy Spirit brings conviction upon you, either through His word, or by way of a witness, before you give place to the anger and blame someone or something else, repent and allow the truth to set you free also.