It’s a bit of a “rite of passage” to get stitches. I’ve had my fair share. I’m sure you have too. It is such an incredible thing to realize that our bodies have a built-in repair system. This is true on so many levels. Break a bone…it heals itself. Eat three-day-old potato salad…our body rejects it (violently sometimes). Cut yourself…and in no time at all your skin repairs itself. What a miracle. There are times when the cut is too big to repair itself without leaving a massive scar. That’s when a stitch or two helps out. Some stitches are external (the ones that often resemble a train track) and some are internal (the ones that dissolve away in a few weeks.)
Now an interesting fact about my body is this: internal stitches have a hard time dissolving. This means they eventually work their way to the surface, get infected, and need to be removed manually. As I was having one of those internal stitches removed today, it gave me pause. “Things that don’t belong in my body eventually must be removed because ultimately my whole body will be affected.”
If the body doesn’t expel that foreign object (stitches) it will eventually end up with an infection. God designed us with multiple systems of defense to protect us. But when we are physically weak, malnourished, or exposed to fatigue over a long period of time, the immune system is compromised, and the body becomes susceptible to infection. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, the church is compared to a physical body. Spiritual infection affects us as individuals but also all of those in the church, “the body of Christ”. Those foreign objects might include pride, anger, rage, slander, obscene language. Check out Colossians 3:8: “But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”
Today you may find yourself being exposed to “foreign objects” that have a high probability of infecting your heart and soul. To start, make sure you’ve personally come to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. God showed how deeply he loves us by sending his Son to be a sacrifice for our sin. Next, walk in faith. Take time to pray and ask God to help us obey His Word. Ask God to help us forgive those who have hurt us in our pain, who have offended us. Choose to lay aside those “foreign objects” that are messing with you. You’ll be glad you did.