Today was the day for my annual mammogram! I used to dread this and other preventive procedures, but I don’t anymore because I realize they can only help me/us. This and other procedures like blood pressure checks, cholesterol checks, bone density tests, colonoscopy (Yes, I said it!) are meant to help us remain healthy and to stop a disease/condition in its tracks if it is found early.
So off I went. As I drove to the hospital, I prayed that God would assign an excellent technician to me and ensure that it was a smooth and easy process from beginning to end. My patience seems very low when I am at a health facility. Guess what! My check-in was simple and quick, which allowed me to arrive in the waiting room early. With less than a 5 minute wait, I was called. The technician seemed very good, and I was finished by 11:40 for an 11:30 appointment. Thank you, God!
On the way home, however, I felt that God was placing something in my spirit to think about. I thought about the procedure itself. The technician had me to stand in just the right position for the 3D machine - one arm up, head back out of the way, and my other arm behind my back. (Can you visualize?) And you know, girls – HOLD YOUR BREATH! This 3D doesn’t want anything in the way!
Then I began to ponder the 3D machine itself:
This new 3D technology takes multiple images of each breast, allowing the radiologist to view the breast layer-by-layer rather than viewing a single flat image. Fine details of the breast tissue were now visible and not hidden by the tissue immediately above or below.
Think about this half-million dollar machine with its purpose to search for and detect any/all abnormal cells/growths in the breast tissue. The 3D machine intently searches each layer of the breast, looking for what should not be there.
Is that what God does with us – intently searches us, looking at the aim or objective of our hearts and what should not be there?
12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:12-13 (NIV)
His Word is so active and alive that it penetrates us completely, dividing our soul/spirit and joints/marrow into what is natural and what is spiritual. Nothing is hidden from God!
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)
God, I am so glad you are not a machine! An idol! A dead concrete image! You are alive and active and constantly searching us and loving us. May we always believe and understand that your Word is what gives us life and not death. We thank you for all that we see and feel and touch here on this earth because we know that it all came from you! But most of all, we thank you that we believe in the One whom we cannot see for His Word is truth!
Thank you for searching us and examining our hearts/our intents. Help us to rid ourselves of what is not like you!
The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7b (NIV)
No machine can or will ever be able to search us like God can!
Thanks for stopping by,
Rachel
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