Where Is the Balm of Gilead in the Bible

As I write this, I don't know the results of the 2020 election. I probably won't keep tabs on election night. Not because I'm worried, but because the unofficial results won't be any less real in the bright light of the new morning, the mercies of a new day.

What I am worried about is how we, the church, will practice our identity in Christ post-election. Pre-election didn't give me a great deal of hope. The driving force of our politics seems to be division, not cooperation or a sense of common purpose. Satan is pernicious like that. We already knew this about him. His objective is to steal and destroy. He will steal our hope and destroy our unity as believers, he's not above that.

The King of kings and Lord of lords did more for the United States of America, the whole world and the totality of human existence, than any politician can or will ever do. Jesus is the answer to every brokenness, every sorrow, every hurt, wrong, result of sin, every injustice, depravity, and emptiness. A politician or a political party is not the answer to our problems. They will not be able to ultimately make all things right in the land. We need Jesus, the Balm of Gilead.

In the ancient world, people used balms, or salves, to heal their wounds and sickness. They also used them to perfume and preserve the bodies of the dead. The mixtures could contain beeswax, balsam, poplar tree juices and other ingredients.

The balm of Gilead is mentioned in the book of Jeremiah, which frames an account of how Israel's disobedience leads to their destruction. Jeremiah lives through his harrowing predictions when Israel refuses to repent of their sin. In Jeremiah 8:21 - 22, Jeremiah is mourning the coming Babylonian siege of Israel:

"Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?"

He's saying, "Help! Isn't there a way to fix this? God, can you heal this?"

In Jeremiah 46:11, God tells the Israelites to go get a balm in Gilead, because they've wounded themselves beyond repair. He doesn't literally mean get a balm to fix their problems, but God is telling them they need a remedy. The Israelites had turned to other nations and other gods to try to heal their sin problem.

Israel needed Jesus, the Balm of Gilead: the true healer and restorer, the remedy to all sin and loss.

The post-election days ahead are the perfect time to practice growing into the character of Christ and into our calling as believers, to apply the Balm of Gilead, Christ, to heal the wounds of our nation and world. Why? Because the coming weeks and months have the potential to breed polarization and further isolation from one another. As believers we have an opportunity to point to Jesus by our words and our behavior and bring the healing balm of Christ. So how do we do this?

• Put on the mind of Christ. Let our thoughts and our "sight" be aligned with Christ's character. How do we see Christ responding to people over and over again in the gospels? With compassion, with mercy. The 5,000 who came to hear him teach but brought no food. Peter trying to walk on water. The centurion whose daughter was sick and dying. The widow whose son had died. The blind men, the lepers, the man who was lowered through the roof of a house by his friends in order to be healed by Jesus. The Samaritan woman!
• Ask God to give us wisdom and discernment: His wisdom and discernment, not our own! To gain his wisdom and discernment, we need to be reading His word each day.
• Be a good "winner" or a good "loser." This is a hard lesson to learn but one that pays dividends. Concede to the "winner" in a cheerful, not-self-pitying manner. Graciously acknowledge the strengths and effort of the "loser." Don't boast on the winning side, or complain that the game was unfair on the losing side.
• Be humble. Think kind and generous thoughts about the person you are faced with, especially if you disagree with them.
• "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt (a seasoning and preservative!) so that you will know how to answer everyone." (Colossians 4:6)

You and your heart are much more important than which party gets to preside as POTUS for the next four years. Your neighbors - your friends, your relatives, even your enemies - are also, in a present and eternal sense, more important than which political party leads this nation.

What I want to say clearly above the din in the day after the election is this: The results of the election, and this upside-down rubbish bin of a pandemic year 2020, do not define my reality or yours. As we walk in the freedom of the crucified Christ, our lives are different. Our relationships are different. Our minds and our hearts are…yes, different. Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

We are called to believe in him and be transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit in us, making us Christ-like. We are called to give up on our own proud identities, and take up his identity. We are called to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. We are called to put the interests of others first, to die to ourselves: "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."

Topics: Spiritual Life, Coronavirus, Civics

Where Is the Balm of Gilead in the Bible

Source: https://www.caldwellacademy.org/blog-news/jesus-the-balm-of-gilead

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