Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
We are to be healed. Does this mean that a paralyzed person who has no healing has no hope? No. We are talking our spiritual selves here. It is the spiritual man we are concerned with. We know the flesh is carnal, we know our physical lives are subject to be abused by others as well as being affect by sin's many years of degradation.
If we believe for one moment that every child is born in a pure state, undefiled by sins ravages, just go to a children's hospital and look into those many incubators at the struggling babes within, born sickly. Sin has damaged us in many ways and we are far from being born physically perfect. Our youth are festered with diseases and syndromes, our young adults are not without their own imperfections and our adults have their problems as well. Some people fight illness and disease all their lives- through no fault of their own.
There is no cure- medical or natural for a child born with half a brain- literally. There is no cure for a child born with Down's Syndrome, there's no way to fix them. There are many health problems that have NO cure that we know of and while a person could do all they can to be healthy in their state of permanent imperfection, there is NOTHING- no vitamin, no pill, no diet in the world that will change what they are.
Physically sometimes we have some control, and for some illnesses a lot of control, but these verses here in Heb. 12:12 and 13 aren't talking to the physically paralyzed they are talking to all of us in our spiritual nature.
Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Spiritually we have to be strong, we have to have hope, the way we choose to live has to be the straight way not the crooked. We have to have strong spiritual lives or else we will be considered spiritually lame, spiritually diseased and we run the high risk of being turned away- told that we aren't spiritually fit for the kingdom. We only become spiritually fit by being spiritually healed in Christ and we have to LET ourselves be healed.
Remember this-
Heb 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
And this-
Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him
Faint in your minds. That didn't read and faint in your bodies. We can faint in our minds and no I'm not talking having amnesia or periods of black outs you don't remember and are told later things you did. I'm talking about spiritual fainting. Our spiritual natures are separate from our physical. The most sick, the most disease ridden person can have a healthy spiritual self. In fact people admire those who are physically sick and yet seemingly rise above all their physical detriments and are happy, well adjusted people. Sometimes those who seem to have a free ticket to being depressed and unhappy because they've been dealt a raw deal and are far from physically fit through no fault of their own, are those who are the happiest. Can people understand it? Not always. Those people are admired because we know how we are when we are temporarily sidelined by a head cold, or a broken leg- miserable- even though our physical ailment will pass.
Is there a mental/emotional side to us that isn't spiritual? No, not really. Our spiritual self lies within our ability to reason, our ability to comprehend. You can choose to be spiritually stunted, you can choose to be spiritually lame and still have the ability to reason with man's logic. Your spiritual self can be alive to Christ or dead to Christ. We are spirit/flesh beings. You CAN be spiritually lame, spiritually paralyzed but it's a choice you are making rather than a physical affliction beyond your control. You control your ability to believe, to have faith. Lack of faith isn't something out of our control.
2Th 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth
Faith can grow!
Lack of faith can be helped.
Mar 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Luk 17:5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith
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Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Let it rather be healed.
Let it!
Allow it to be healed.
Allow what to be healed?
Allow the lameness in us, the crooked paths our feet would go down, allow that all to be healed. Allow the spiritual sickness in us to be healed so that we can stay in the way and not be turned out. We can't LET this world's pain, this world's sickness, this world's injustices, this world's agonies, this world's prince have control over us, we must choose rather to spiritually cling to the hope we have in Christ for a better existence in Him, through Him. We will suffer here and now, there is NO escaping that suffering, none. The choice to let our hands hang down, to allow our knees to be feeble and non-supporting making it difficult to walk, to walk down paths we know are not of God, is just that… A CHOICE. We need to CHOOSE to allow ourselves to be healed in Christ by choosing to lift up our hands, choosing to rejoice through our afflictions, choosing to walk down the straight roads even though the enemy has covered them in broken glass and stolen our shoes, choosing to be healed even though the path to healing is the most painful one there can ever be. We choose how we respond to the chastening of the Lord. We choose to either learn or to rebel from that chastening. We choose to give in to self pity, we choose to be self- centered or God- centered. When we are God- centered we are placing ourselves in God's hand and trusting Him to heal us spiritually so that we will not be turned out of the way. The straight paths we MAKE for our feet are the paths that lead us to God, to Christ, to life, to healing.
Let us choose healing in Christ no matter what, through Christ's love.
Amen.
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