Friday, April 22, 2022

Time to Beat the Bell

 

Friday, April 22, 2022

In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives.  Treat your wife with understanding as you live together.  She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life.  Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.  1 Peter 3:7

My friend and colleague’s father hated the little tinkle of the bell his wife rang to get him to come in the room.  She was bed-ridden, and it became the “intercom” buzzer.  He felt guilty when she finally passed, that he’d been irritable over that bell.  The problem was not a bell, but guilt over being frustrated.  Being stuck in grief and raking up every one of his shortcomings, or guilty piece of remorse over irritations, is a hard way to continue remembering your loved one with honor. 

Apostle Peter was a man whose conscience was glad to show him his failings repeatedly.  And he reminds us that guilt, left unaddressed will hinder your prayers; not saying your prayers, but having them get past the roof of your living room.  God doesn’t hear from a heart cluttered with unconfessed sin.

When his Dad expressed how guilty he felt over hating that bell, my friend put his arm around his dad and said:  You know, Dad, it’s ok if you want to beat that bell.  And that’s exactly what they did.  They took that bell out in the back yard, and, through tears, smashed it to pieces, sending it off to bell heaven.  Somehow beating that bell released all the pent-up guilt over a shortcoming of patience, which was nullifying the honor and memory of many times of answering the bell with service.  Beating that bell was a prayer of confession.

For You Today

“Beating the bell” is a picture of what we do in confession – we get it out in the backyard, in the daylight, clearly seen, acknowledged, and owned.  And then we smash the thing on God’s altar, just like you’d break an idol to pieces as an expression of faith in the one, true, living God.

Confession is good for the soul…if something is hindering your prayers, perhaps it’s time to beat the bell?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©   

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