The Path of Restoration

Three months have passed since I underwent ACL replacement surgery on my knee.  When I first talked to my specialist concerning the procedure, it was not without warning.  "The surgery has a high success rate," the doctor said.  "But the highest probability of re-rupture occurs at the three month mark.  You're getting stronger, you're feeling good, and you overdo it.  You need to do the things I tell you to do, and not do anything I tell you not to do."  No problem, I said.  With a clear conscience, I can say for the most part I have kept my word.  I may be out of the woods, but a long road to full recovery stretches before me.

Recovery from knee surgery is similar to what happens when God heals broken parts of our lives.  Maybe we think that because we have been forgiven, reconciled, and restored, we can pretty much do whatever we want!  But that is far from reality.  Suppose I hadn't been warned to take precautions concerning activities to do or to avoid, and all my specialist did was give me a new ligament?  I certainly wouldn't want or even think to do painful exercises.  Restoration can hurt!  If I avoided important exercises, flexibility and strength would be poor, and no doubt I would engage in potentially dangerous activities for the healing ligament.  My ligament was fixed in a matter of minutes, but I still need to daily take intentional, practical steps to benefit the healing process which can take a year!

God forgives sin and says, "Go and sin no more!"  After Jesus healed a lame man John 5:14 tells us, "Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  Healing of the body matters little if the heart has not been transformed.  When God has delivered our souls from sin and death, it matters how we choose to live.  Are we avoiding sin and living righteously?  If I use my leg however I want or feel at the moment, I run the risk of severely damaging the ligament.  But if I use it in accordance with the recommendations of my specialist, strength will be restored and healing promoted.  The Holy Spirit guides those who are born again and reconciled to God.  God's Word is not a series of recommendations, but the words of life we do well to heed!  As we live out our days, may we take the steps necessary for restoration!