First-Aid

Ouch! I poked my finger with the sharp end of a knife trying to open a plastic-packaged item. There was only a droplet of blood, so I rinsed it off and didn't think much about it. Until the middle of the night when it felt definitely sore. By morning, it was painful and a little swollen, right below my fingernail. Belatedly, I put antibiotic ointment and a Band-Aid on it. Not only was it uncomfortable and worrisome, it stuck out like a sore thumb, er..finger, ruining the look of my nail polish!

While we were in Houston last week, my daughter-in-love took my granddaughters and me for a girls' day out. We visited the nail salon! I loved my manicure! The kids each got a mani-pedi for back-to-school, and their mother chose a pedicure. Anyway, my blemish had taken on a dark-red color that definitely didn't go with coral shellac! Thankfully, it's all better now.

The same thing had happened to me a week or so before. Same scenario, using the sharp point of a knife to cut open a stubborn, plasticized container! The only difference being that I took action then and immediately washed, applied ointment and a Band-Aid to my pierced finger on the other hand. Didn't even get sore!

Reflecting on these little incidents, I thought about how a bad deed, mistake, or sin, if not repented of or made right, can fester and grow out of proportion, like a swollen injury. But if repenting, apologizing or setting things right is done right away, as in the example of caring for the injured finger immediately, it need not even leave a scar!

Jesus addresses a situation in Matthew 5:23 dealing with an immediate setting-to-rights example. "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; (24) Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."

Guilt or a heavy conscience can mar relationships not only with man, but with God as well! We are also told in scripture, "Don't let the sun go down on your wrath," Ephesians 4:26.`And my advice is, Don't go to bed with an un-tended problem, be it a cut finger or something bigger. Take care of it, the sooner the better!