What Do You Guard?

You cut your finger while making dinner.  It hurts.  For the next few days, you turn the doorknobs and brush your teeth with the sore finger extended, guarding it from bumps and effort, protecting it from further harm.

But what happens if you break some bones in the other hand?  Suddenly hand with the cut finger is the one that takes the hits, so as to protect the worse-off hand.

Another example: A migraine has the guy flat on the couch, aching.  He thinks he can't handle anything.  But if the house goes up in flames, he's up and out the door.  Was the migraine imaginary?  Of course not.  It was debilitating.  But the pain of getting out had to be endured to, well, get out and rescue the body.



Ephesians 5: "No one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cares for it, as the Lord does the church." 

Jesus went willingly to the cross.  Just as I would suffer pain in my body while protecting my body from worse damage, Christ suffered in His body because it was a higher priority to protect His body, the Church.