While walking through a wooded area one day, I came upon a area full of thorn trees. As I walked, the path became more obstructed by thick brush. While trying to avoid the thorns all around me, I tripped on a root that was protruding from the ground.
As I fell face first, my instinct was to break the fall with my hands, but as I caught a glimpse of what was a shocking sight, I knew in a split second that something bad was about to happen.
The fall was quick and powerful, as if the root had grabbed me by the ankles and thrown me to the ground. I had fallen into a large broken branch that had fallen to the ground. It was a branch from a thorn tree, full of very long, very sharp and evil looking thorns. The thorns were two or three inches long, and when I hit the ground the thorns drove themselves into my hands like nails. The thorns hit me in the face and chest and arms, and buried themselves deep into the flesh. The pain was unbearable.
I tried to get up, but the thorns were holding me like the teeth of a wild animal. Full of panic, I thrashed and kicked until I was able to stand. As I looked and saw the blood, and the extent of the injuries, I only panicked even more as I began tearing at my own flesh in a attempt to remove the terrible teeth from hell.
The thorns had driven themselves so deeply into my flesh, that they even hit the bone and slid down it, and plowed the flesh back like a farmers field. Some broke off inside my body and could not be reached to remove them. It seemed hopeless, and would I ever recover from my injuries, or even bleed to death?
Many of the thorns might even be with me forever. Who can help me to remove these evil thorns? On yeah, Jesus can! Thank our loving God that this story is a vision, sent to me by the Holy Spirit, and not a physical event. Although still painful, it is just a different type of injury.
The thorns represent the lasting injuries and scars we will be inflicted with when we don’t step carefully while walking the path of life. Sin is the ultimate thorn, once you have fallen face first into the thorn bush from hell, your life will forever be changed. The thorns that leave part of themselves behind will likely be with you for the rest of your life. Even if you remove most of them, the scars will always be there to remind you of your carelessness and disregard for the truth.
The evil thorn of sin can penetrate even as deep as the heart and soul and mind. The infection from the injury can spread into every part of your life and destroy you from the inside out. It can destroy your relationships with those you love the most, and make you do and say things you might not otherwise do.
The thorns will also distract you from the love of Jesus and others who want your attention. And if you are not careful, they will become part of you and control your every thought. The poison will course through your veins and when you look in the mirror, you will no longer be able to recognize who you are.
Some thorns will never be removed because most of us are unwilling to dig deep enough to find, and remove them. These thorns have become part of who you are, twenty-four hours a day, they speak to you. They call out your name and taunt you, and tease you with their temptations and evil thoughts that have followed you your entire life. You have learned to love the thorns and are unwilling to give them up.
In the past you feared the thorns, but now you are afraid to cast them out because you fear that you will lose a part of you that somehow gives you pleasure. But the thorns are not your friend. They are a festering and infected wound that will not heal.
It is painful to tear at ones own flesh in order to remove the evil inside us. But if we do not find a way to remove the hidden pieces of our sin, we will all surely pay a painful price. We cannot hide the thorns, even though we can’t see the pieces of hidden sin, ‘Jesus can’. We lie to ourselves and cover our scars with clothing, in a attempt to keep the truth and the oozing pus from the world, ‘and Jesus’.
Jesus can help you remove the old recurring and rancid sin that you cannot remove by yourself. He will put his finger in the wound and dig deeply into your flesh, finding and removing the leftovers of pain and sin. Then he will hand you the nails and mallet and ask you to drive the nails into your hands and feet. You will fear the pain of the nails and beg him not to make you do it.
But Jesus won’t force you to give up your infected ways. He simply asks that you do, and warns you of the outcome if you don’t. If you are not willing to remove the infected sin from your life, it could be fatal. So reach out your wounded hands and let Jesus heal you. And always remember, punishment from God is not reactive. It is predestined because we have been warned of the outcome of sin left to fester and swell and grow into something far worse then at first.
Forgiveness can only happen if you are willing to dig deep and dispose of ‘all’ the thorns. Ask Jesus to remove the infection, and replace the thorns with rusty nails. We cannot worship our body and our Jesus at the same time. Sooner or later, we won’t be ‘asked’ anymore to give up our flesh, it will simply be taken. Why not offer it as a gift to our Lord and Savior, who willingly gave his flesh to save yours from yourself.
Matthew 16:24-26, then Jesus said to the disciples, “If ‘anyone’ wants to be a follower of mine, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who keeps his life for himself shall lose it; and anyone who loses his life for me shall find it again. What profit is there if you gain the whole world — and lose eternal life? What can be compared with the value of eternal life”?