Spiritual Poison Ivy

Written by Tony Stith New Horizons Community Fellowship This week my daughter has been dealing with the effects of an encounter with poison ivy the week before. The right side of her face became almost unrecognizable as it became swollen and turned a bright shade of red. This vile plant grows prolifically on our three acre plot of land. Over the 13 years that we've lived here I've waged a battle to eradicate it from those parts of our property that we use and maintain. But even though you can't see evidence of it's existence above ground, it's root system, which seemingly never dies and extends like a vast network, continues to thrive in the soil underneath. We're fairly certain that it was from soil containing these roots that Courtney, while weeding a flower bed, came into contact with the stuff. The problem with poison ivy is that once it's on the skin it's almost impossible to stop it's damaging affects unless recognized and dealt with immediately. In very rare cases, exposure to large amounts of the plant's oil can cause complications that can lead to death. As we watched our daughter's face swell, we did become a little concerned that this was more than just an uncomfortable nuisance. After consulting the local nurse line and after doing some research, we did finally find some medicine (very expensive medicine I might add) that has done wonders in alleviating some of the discomfort and in helping to draw out the poison faster. It's still taking time to heal, but we aren't worried for our daughter's recovery. Paul writes in Romans 7:18 - 20 "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice." He continues in Rom 7:24 - 25 "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." As Christians we have had our senses trained by the Holy Spirit and by God's word to recognize sin. But, as Paul here recognized in his own life, even though we do our best to eradicate any vestiges of it from our lives, because we are human and because we live in a fallen world, we will never be able to completely keep ourselves from it's harmful affects. It's tentacles reach into areas we cannot see before we have fallen prey to it's poison. It still has the power to bring us under the death penalty. Paul, however, does reveal the antidote. There's only one way to be released from it's grip. We have the utlimate healing balm...and it's not expensive...it's freely given. It's the blood of our Savior who gave His life for us so that we could be released from the penalty of sin. We still, like my daughter, may have to suffer the consequences of sins affects in our life. We may need to let the infection run it's course. But it should be comforting to know that through the power of His blood, our ultimate healing is certain.