1st December 2013

Had a good reason to love my gall bladder the other day. I was sitting on a jetty eating fish and chips, when a piece of batter fell into the water. Couldn’t believe the huge release of oil, and quickly looked around for one of those containment flotation devices to try to avert an ecological disaster in Port Macquarie.

But then remembered with thanks that I had a gall bladder, and was glad that it was on duty that day. (Actually according to Anatomy 101, it’s the liver that makes the bile that dissolves the fat; the gall bladder simply stores and releases it as required, to give credit to where credit is due.)

Made me wonder though if there is a gall bladder for the brain, that attacks and breaks down “fatty thoughts”. Some sort of cerebral-organ that zaps and eliminates bad thoughts. Sounds useful, but I’ve yet to hear of one, and my brain still remembers some pretty nasty things that I wish had been zapped and eliminated.

The only way that I’ve discovered that breaks down the punch and power of bad thoughts is the grace of God. When we take the hand of the Lord Jesus, God’s Spirit does his good and gracious work in our minds, including the disempowering of bad memories. God does not erase the remembrance of bad times, but does dissolve all their guilt and debilitating power. There may be some place for hypnotic and chemical therapies, but it’s not first place. That’s reserved for God and his grace.

DM 28^th November 2013