2 minute read.
Daily Reading: Joshua 19:1-20:9 ESV, Luke 19:28-48 ESV, Psalm 88:1-18 ESV, Proverbs 13:12-14 ESV
Daily Verse: ‘For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side” (Luke 19:43 ESV)
CHARAX (5482): “A palisade or rampart (military mound for circumvallation in a siege.” The dirt for making the siege mounds came from digging a trench.”[i]
Entrenched hearts.
Jesus, God in the flesh, knows all things. Including the knowledge, the Romans will one day lay siege to Jerusalem by building barricades around the city, starving the citizens into submission.
Barricades require work to build. The dirt from digging trenches became the mighty mounds cutting off the entrance to the city. In the same way, we can build walls around our hearts. After we experience hurt, we create defensive barriers to keep the pain from happening again.
However, shutting out God and people cuts us off from life itself. Like the people of Jerusalem, our hearts starve and wither. But when we lay our pain at the foot of the cross, Jesus takes it upon Himself, healing our wounds.
Destroy the walls.
My favorite analogy of peeling away the layers of hurt came from Beth Moore.[i] Every injury we encounter adds another layer around the heart, like layers of an onion. Barricades we build ourselves keep us from living life fully. As we allow Jesus into the dark places of our soul, He peels away the walls, one by one, healing us.
Don’t let past events keep you from living today. Journeying through life comes with ups and downs. Working through the valleys helps us reach the mountaintops. As the journey continues, allowing Jesus more and more control, our hearts will become whole once again.
Stop building barricades; instead, give your cares to Jesus. Let Him handle the pain as you rest in the Father’s arms.
[i] Strong, J., & Strong, J. (2010). The New Strong’s expanded exhaustive concordance of the Bible. Greek Dictionary of the New Testament (pp. 269-70) Thomas Nelson
