Splinters

Over the past few months, I have found small pieces of wood sticking out of my left palm and a right finger. Both times I pulled the splinter out and believed that was the end of it. Unfortunately the very tip had remained beneath the surface of the skin. With the passing of time, both sites became infected. Interestingly, one can pull a ½ inch piece splintered wood out of the hand, but the tiny speck remaining can cause so much trouble. When I pulled the larger portion of wood from my hand, I did not see that anything was left. That tiny, unseen speck of wood was the source of pain and other potential problems.

Sin is much like that piece of splintered wood. I thought about the Scripture that speaks about judging others. “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye but do not notice or consider the beam [of timber] that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, Brother, allow me to take out the speck that is in your eye, when you yourself do not see the beam that is in your own eye? You actor (pretender, hypocrite)! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.” (Luke 6:41-42 AMP)  These verses refer to having a serious area of one’s life does not line up with the word of God. Oblivious to our own faults, we can become critical of others who are seeking God to overcome sin, but have come a little short of total victory in their lives.

Taking the beam out of our eyes is recognizing that we have sin that needs to be removed.  This is like my pulling that ½  inch piece of the splinter out of my hand. At these times, we must be careful to get all of the sin and not leave a small portion behind. Obeying 90% is a good start, but we must continue seeking God’s help until the last traces of disobedience are released and God’s love can flow through us. This is especially true of attitudes that we want to hold on to just a tiny bit such as unforgiveness, envy, and anger.  We need to get all sin out so we can help others do the same.

A speck of a wooden splinter remaining beneath the skin will lead to infection over time. This starts with an irritation and a bit of redness. If not attended quickly, the pain and infection will both increase, causing pressure at the skin’s surface. The only cure for this is to open the skin, remove the splinter and drain the infection.  It must be totally cleaned out.  Although this process is momentarily painful, it is necessary to end further suffering.

We can rejoice in progress we have made in overcoming sinful attitudes. God is patient with us. Still we must keep moving forward toward total victory over sin in our lives. “A little leaven (a slight inclination to error, or a few false teachers) leavens the whole lump [it perverts the whole conception of faith or misleads the whole church].” (Galatians 5:9 AMP)  The little speck of sin left behind can hide beneath the surface of our lives. Unseen, this small sin can cause an infection of our entire soul.  It must be cleaned out entirely.

Unattended infection can lead to serious health problems including blood poisoning. Likewise the infection of unconfessed sin can cause serious soul sickness.  “A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones.” (Proverbs 14:30 AMP)  Hidden sin can poison our entire life replacing love, joy and peace with bitterness and destroy our spiritual and even physical health.

The good news is that God is ready and waiting to take the sin out of our lives. Just as my finger or my palm could not expel that speck of the splinter, we cannot rid our lives of sin by our own power. God is waiting with a sharp scalpel of His word to open and clean out the wound.  “For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12 AMP)  He will lovingly clean all wounds in our lives.  “So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word,” (Ephesians 5:26 AMP)  

The second time I extracted a piece of splintered wood from my hand, I was more watchful.  I knew something could be left behind.  At the first sign of redness I acted to remove the hidden speck of wood and completely cleaned the area so the infection would not spread.  This alertness reduced the problem significantly.  We can be equally aware of the possibility of remaining traces of sin and move quickly to remove them from our lives.

Take a moment to consider your life.  If you find any traces of disobedience to God’s word, allow the healing hand of the Father to take the splinter of sin out and make your life clean and healthy.