The Great Physician

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26 ESV)

In lieu of things I have going on with me, my mind has had me thinking of all the different doctors I have come across in my life; the good ones and the bad ones. There was one doctor who I had that got mad at me because he felt I was being rude to his staff, had the audacity to cuss at me and call me things no professional should ever call a client. He has to be to worst doctor I have ever had. I have had several pretty descent doctors but don’t recall ever having one doctor I would call extraordinary.

The only person that has ever come close to meeting that criterion is Jesus Christ himself. God promised to make a difference in my life that no doctor ever could. The lifestyle I chose to live before surrendering my life to Jesus was not one to be proud of. I was living for myself, and the things that were pleasing to me. I was cold, callus and at times downright ruthless. Some people might even say that I was hard hearted. I was a fully fledged alcoholic; I made potheads look tame with the amount of marijuana I smoked. I was also a drug dealer and a thief, all while putting on the front of being mister nice guy.

But that was my before. Since giving my life to Jesus for Him to use me as he sees fit I have been clean and sober for almost ten years in August. The spirit that lived inside of me wanting to please myself and doing what my conscience told me was right has been replaced by His Spirit dwelling in me guiding the decisions that I make. I am no longer cold and heartless, try to be loving and gentle to those around me. The times in my life where I have extreme boldness are when preaching the gospel of my Lord Jesus Christ. I hope that after someone meets me they speak of me as Peter and John were spoken of in Acts. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13 ESV)

Have you ever encountered the Great Physician? If you have not take a moment to seek Jesus ask Him to reveal himself to you and he will. He will do it in ways that you could never imagine. However, be careful because once you meet Jesus there is no going back or denying that you have met Him. Life will not be easy should you choose to follow Him, but it will always be worth it for the glory of Him, who “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV) Today get right with God through Jesus Christ.

Live Long, Pray Hard, Die Well!