Bones

Psalm 51:8; Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice.(King James version says "let the bones you have broken rejoice)
Psalm 102:5; Because of my groaning,I am reduced to skin and bones.
Lamentations 1:13-14; “He has sent fire from heaven that burns in my bones. He has placed a trap in my path and turned me back. He has made me desolate, racked with sickness all day long. 14 “He wove my sins into ropes to hitch me to a yoke of captivity. The Lord sapped my strength and gave me to my enemies; I am helpless in their hands.

I once heard a story about a shepherd who had trouble with a small lamb that kept running off. Several times the shepherd went in search of the lamb till at last he had to resort to breaking one of its legs. The shepherd then carried the lamb for weeks draped around his neck until the bone had had time to mend. When the shepherd finally allowed the lamb to walk on his own, guess who then stayed closest to the shepherd! 'That same lamb'. Even though he felt the pain of his leg being broken, the closeness that the lamb experienced with the shepherd while he mended changed the lamb's perception of the shepherd. Instead of constantly ignoring the voice of the shepherd and going off to do his own thing, he now knew that the shepherd was watching over him closely for his benefit. The lamb's painful memories became his blessing, for it brought him to a close loving relationship with the shepherd.

Often times because of the circumstances we go through in this life our perception of the Lord can become that of task master instead of our best friend and shepherd. It's in times like these that the enemy comes in and hits us with temptation. At first the temptation seems to offer us a freedom that we feel we are lacking. But once we begin to walk down a path of self will it becomes easier to do those things that we have kept ourselves from. This is how we become slaves to that sin - bound to a desire to fulfill the desires of the flesh.

Your free will gives you the ability to make choices. We say to the Lord that we want to do what's right and pleasing to Him. But, we don't always make the right choices. Some decisions we make out of ignorance of God's word, but most wrong choices are because we allow our flesh to lead us.

To me bones represent the structure of the body. Without bones our body would be a pile of mush with flesh holding it together. The biggest muscle in our body is just meat when it's not attached to a bone. It depends on the bone to support it so that a part of the body can be moved. I find it significant that none of Jesus's bones were broken and that it was prophesied that none would be.

When our bones are healthy we grow strong and we are able to get around easily. Spiritually speaking, when we are not in right relationship, our structure weakens. When we face this kind of weakening our life becomes filled with sickness and despair. This is often mirrored in the physical realm as well. It's in these times that we find that we find out that the price of our wrong choices is more expensive than what we're prepared to pay.

In this place of despair is it too late to run to Jesus for forgiveness? No! Praise God Jesus paid the price for our sin! When we run to Him, He becomes our comfort and strength. It is when we recognize our weakness that God becomes our strength because we're depending on Him before we make another effort to go any farther.

True freedom from sin only comes through Jesus. He doesn't let us just do as we please, because if that were so we would soon be lost or in danger of coming to harm. He leads us to do what is best for us. Read Psalm 23 for a perfect example of His goodness.