Who would have thought that pulling one little tooth could have caused this much pain?!?! It kind of reminds me of one bad apple can ruin the whole bushel. What are the rotten areas lingering in your life? Do you have decay in just one "little" area? Be careful, it can infect your entire being...
As embarrassing as it is to admit, I had a tooth that broke off cause it was so decayed. The dentist had to go in and remove it, even cut pieces away from the bone. Why? Because the tooth had begun to fuse with the bone and be part of it. There was so much blood and decay, he had to go in 2 days later and remove the hidden leftovers. There is still one piece he didn't get... not because he couldn't, but because it was so close to my sinuses, there was risk of putting a hole in my sinuses if he tried to get it out. And that, would take much longer and be much more painful to heal. Man, this one little tooth has messed with my whole body.
You see. My bad tooth was a result of braces left on too long and unattended. I had neglected regular visits to the dentist because of finances. Eventually what was supposed to shape and retrain my teeth, ended up being a place for remaining particles of the junk I ate, to congregate. By the time I removed my braces, (yes I removed them), the damage was done. My tooth was already on its way to decay. Years went by, I left the decay unattended. The tooth eventually became too weak. It was annoying! I could feel the sharp edges where the rotten parts were eating away the smooth tooth and creating sharp edges.
Once the tooth broke, it was too late for there to be a clean removal. I tried my hardest to remove the tooth myself to avoid the expense of a dentist... but it was too late. I had to go have the dentist remove the roots. My roots had grown to my jaw bone. He had to drill the tooth away from the bone. As I said before, one piece was so deep it had to be left. There was so much blood and decay, there was no way to see all the pieces until after I had a little time to heal. Then I had to go back, open the wound and have the remaining pieces, the additional decay removed...talking about pain!!!
Let's think of that from a spiritual perspective. I wonder if I even need to explain. Are you seeing it already? When we neglect the things in life that are supposed to be helpful, we are like that bracket that instead of shaping and correcting the problem, created a place for the bad particles to collect. Then, hmm.. we try to take things into our own hands. Let's see... we haven't been having our prayer and study time, someone hurts us.. and instead of going to God, we try to ignore it. The more we ignore it, the more it builds up. Then, we try to take care of it ourselves. Remove it.
Are there things building up in your life? Have you neglected your spiritual life so long, you are starting to decay spiritually? Have you tried to fix things on your own, only to find that there is still a root of sin or bitterness left causing infection to the rest of your body? Are there pieces of hurt, resentment, so deep that digging them out would put a hole in something that would take so much longer to heal? Maybe you have just been in one place so long, you are starting to fuse with it? Even if you aren't supposed to? Are you getting to the root?
Let God be your spiritual dentist. Let Him remove the decay from your life. God is a caring "dentist" he knows that you may not be able for Him to dig it all out at once. He knows that the pain, the the blood from the wound, makes it hard to remove everything at once. He has an open door policy, once He starts a work, He is always willing to finish it... AS LONG AS YOU LET HIM!
Here is the thing... don't be like I was with my tooth. Don't wait too long! Don't let other things take precedence. Don't wait till the decay effects other parts of your body. See.. if I had been to the dentist when this first started, he could have cleaned out the cavity and filled it. I wouldn't have had to lose my tooth. What are your spiritual "cavities" today? Let the Dentist scrape away the empty cavities of your life and become your "filling". Be proactive spiritually. Make regular visits to the Dentist. Brush your life with daily cleaning, floss the crevices to get the hidden particles that can damage you, rinse your mouth with the control of the Holy Spirit. Don't let your roots decay! I can tell you, the pain is much worse when you let things go, rather than handing them over to God and letting Him fill your life.
Brush up with God today!
