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