Today’s devotion is based on Week 4 of “Resolve”: Listen to the right source! (WATCH HERE)
This past weekend my wife and sister-in-law were helping my mother-in-law put away the Christmas decorations. As my sister-in-law lifted a porcelain Christmas tree to put it in a box, the bottom part fell off and shattered. I got a picture with a message, “Can you build a new base?”
When something breaks that is precious in value or in sentiment, we want to be able to put it back together again. We naturally want to fix what is broken.
The base to this Christmas tree would need a lot of superglue and patience and it still wouldn’t be back to its original condition. We’ll see about a wooden base to at least make it stand up.
When Jesus stood in the synagogue of Nazareth and quoted Isaiah 61, he said,
Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me … to set the oppressed free,…”
What does this have to do with a broken Christmas tree base?
At the heart of the word “oppressed” is the idea of “broken” or “shattered.” It is a similar thought that King David as he despaired over his sin of adultery and murder:
Psalm 51:16-17 :You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
Sin shatters our heart into a million pieces. Like picking up the pieces of the broken Christmas tree base and realizing we can’t fix this on our own. We wish we could. It feels yucky to realize that what I broke I can’t fix.
Jesus, can you fix this?
This is what Jesus came to do. Literally this phrase says, “to send out those who have been broken.”
Things that are broken you throw away. Things that are fixed you continue to use.
Jesus in his grace fixed the problem of sin in our hearts by securing forgiveness through his perfect life, innocent death and glorious resurrection.
The result? We aren’t just “fixed” but we are sent out to function as ones who have been made whole. Think of the Apostle Paul and his rap sheet that Jesus fixed and sent him to bring the message of forgiveness to the world.
Jesus does the same for you and me. He fixes what we cannot and then sends out the broken to proclaim the glorious truth that Jesus is the healer of all who are broken by sin. As King David wrote in Psalm 34:
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Apply: Does your spirit feel broken? Ask the Lord to fix it with forgiveness. Do you feel broken and not usable? Know the Lord fixes you with forgiveness and sends you out whole to serve him today!
Prayer: Be close to me and all the brokenhearted. Fix me with your forgiveness. Send me out to share the glorious Gospel with all those who are oppressed by sin. AMEN.