The Sickened Head

"5

"Where will you be stricken again,


As you continue in your rebellion?


The whole head is sick

And the whole heart is faint.

From the sole of the foot even to the head


There is nothing sound in it,


Only bruises, welts and raw wounds,


Not pressed out or bandaged,


Nor softened with oil."

~Isaiah 1:5-6

Have you ever put yourself out there, no longer hiding from who you know you are? Laying yourself bare is what many call it. Here is me laying myself bare, in a very small but synoptic nutshell. 

Growing up, I was a strong-willed and arrogant child. I became very familiar with discipline and punishment (there is a difference). I appreciated the discipline more than the punishment. It took my parents having the patience of God not to murder me or stone me. Thank God for the New Testament. 
In my ignominious display of total depravity and sinfulness, the goading that was my upbringing taught me to appreciate the full height of justice. 

The point is, any inflection of righteousness however great or small, will bear discipline or punishment of some sort. Can't escape it. That is what Judah is to understand. That is what the people of Jacob were to understand. Now that Christ has come, that is what the whole earth is to understand. Let us take full advantage of the fact that we have Jesus Christ - Prophet, Priest and King, and ultimately our Advocate who absorbed the full wage of our sins. The Lord God, The Holy of Holies is merciful, yet just; painstakingly patient to the point of our repentance and salvation. May any full reward that we seek today and forever be found in Christ Jesus alone.