“Make Me a Channel of Your Peace,
Where There is Hatred, Let Me Bring Your Love…” (TFWS
2171).
Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
How’s your soul today? It is well with my soul?
For the last several months, I could not use the left side of my
teeth very well because of the pain it brought. And even drinking water was not
very easy for me. So one day, I went to see my dentist to repair a decaying and
infected tooth. Actually, it ended up with a root canal. It sounded complicated
though, the procedure was just to remove the pulp to treat that particular
tooth.
So what did they do first?
They put me on a very comfortable chair… which was a good part.
But, as soon as I was situated on it comfortably, they covered my eyes with
dark colored sunglasses and then fixed my mouth with some unknown plastic
blocks, to keep it open and then they placed a sheet of robber around that
tooth.
Which means, I could not talk. Actually, I could not do anything
when they cleaned it up, filled it up and covered it up! However, now I am able
to drink and chew without pain! The beauty of the root canal! So, it is well
with my soul now!
Anyway, through this month of March, we are entering into the season
of Lent, forty days of preparation to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. Historically, Lent began as a period of fasting and preparation for
baptism by new believers in Christ and then became a time for penance by all
believers.
In other words, it is now time for having a root canal done… for
our spiritual tooth if there is any infected or decaying one. I'm pretty sure
we all do. However, it doesn’t sound easy, does it?
But why? Because we might have to deal with some areas, hidden, abandoned,
ignored and blinded spots, deep inside of our hearts, that caused some pains of
our life or made our life stinky.
And it might make us uncomfortable when we deal with that
directly. So, not many people want to go there freely and honestly, I mean, our
reality of sin and death. However, as we let God work through us in trust
during this Lent, we will experience a total freedom from that bondage of pain,
I mean, the power of Jesus’ resurrection! It is the beauty of Lent!
So now are we ready for this forty days of Lenten Journey
together, I mean, for having a spiritual root canal?
Actually, for us, it is little more than a spiritual root canal
because, during Lent, our living God… not only cleans us and fixes us but also
makes us into a certain instrument for His purpose, I mean a totally different
one.
Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message
to the Gentiles
and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel” (Acts
9:15, NLT).
We know Saul, a Pharisee of Pharisees, who persecuted Christians
before he met Christ on the way to Damascus. But later on, he became Paul, an
apostle. After he had his spiritual root canal done… by the hands of God, he
became God's chosen instrument. It is a beauty of God’s hands!
Once He touches, everything becomes new, with a new identity, with
a new purpose, and with a new meaning… for a new way of life!
Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we looking for that… through
this Lenten season, a new identity, a new purpose, and a new meaning?
In this month of March, we will experience how God makes us as his
chosen instrument of His peace. As we let God touch us, cleans us, mold us and
fill us, we will take small steps in trust! This will be another exciting and
exhilarating month trusting God alone! So, now I would like to invite you to
join us on this new journey of spiritual root canal! Join us!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Kyochul
