Being prepared to fix something, whether it’s a tech problem, a health problem, a relationship problem or any problem, means identifying the real problem—which may not be the problem that first gets your attention.
A screen that keeps slapping you with a nasty error message has a problem but it’s not the error message itself. That’s just letting you know there’s a deeper problem.
A stuffy head, fever, and runny nose aren’t really problems but your body’s reaction to deal with the real problem of infection.
And a relationship broken by barriers in communication or burdened by conflicting interests can’t be fixed by simply agreeing to communicate and compromise, because those aren’t the real problems.
You’re not prepared to fix your laptop if you simply click an error message off the screen and you’re not prepared to fix your infection if you simply take a couple Tylenol for your fever.
I want to use band-aids and blame the system and burden others with the responsibility to do better, when God says that I am the one who needs to change. Now. And I can’t. Worse yet, I don’t always want to!
But there is someone who wants me to. More importantly, he can fix my problems without my help. My servant. My Savior. He starts personally, in each of us, with the heart. He repairs what can be repaired, and what can’t, he then replaces.
Our Savior fixes broken-hearted sinners not with band-aids but with the scalpel of truth cutting precisely to the core and the stitches of mercy mending sin’s brokenness with what can only be the miracle cure of forgiveness. There. Fixed forever.
Our Savior fixes tormented sinners by releasing us from guilt, taking it onto himself, suffering on the cross the torment of a God angry at our sins, then conquering sin’s curse and condemnation forever by rising to life and leaving it buried in hell where it belongs. There. Fixed forever.
Our Savior fixes repentant sinners by replacing our dirty ashes of sadness with the purifying oil of gladness, rubbing all over us the enriching aroma of his very own righteousness. There. Fixed forever.
Our Savior fixes despairing sinners too embarrassed by our sin-stained appearance by replacing it with the garments of salvation, dressing us up with heavenly praise and encouragement. There. Fixed forever.
Rejoice today in these words, promising that Jesus, the Servant of the Lord, has come “to proclaim good news to the poor … to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners to comfort all who mourn … to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair” (Isaiah 61:1-3).
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, healer and fixer of hearts and souls, mend me today with your forgiveness and peace. Proclaim your good news to me and through me. Amen.
FURTHER MEDITATION: Read Isaiah 61. It’s a description in detail of the saving work of Jesus, who is prophesied as the servant of the Lord.