THE CANKER

“And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven
thee. “ (Lk5:20)

One of the marvels of the four gospels is the words of Jesus. There was a
time the Holy Spirit impressed upon me to look into His saying especially
when in a dialogue with an individual or a group of people. Checking
through His dialogues made me wonder a lot. There were many times that
it seemed Jesus was not communicating because He was not addressing
the issue at hand but there was lot of wisdom in His sayings. He is not a
politician who is trying very hard to parry a question because he doesn’t
understand it or is shying away from the truth, He is the truth.

Take for example the scribe that dialogued with Him. Here was a man who
felt Jesus had answered the people well and he asked, “which is the first
commandment?” to which Jesus answered him and told him the second
most important commandment and this man was so impressed by Jesus’:
answer added, “... Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one
God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart,
and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the
strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole
burnt offerings and sacrifices.”(Mk12:32, 33) This you will agree with me
is a reasonable addition to Jesus answer. But guess what Jesus told him,
“...you are not far from the Kingdom....” (vs34)

Now, that sounded ridiculous because it looked like this man had it all
together, at least unlike other scribes he agreed with Jesus and said the
right things, but rather Jesus made him realise that the letter is not
enough, but the life is more important. It is not only the knowledge of
the truth that guarantees making heaven, but living the life of
the word.

Look at this other scenario, the story of Zacchaeus (a rich tax collector),
here was a man hated by the populace (because the tax collectors were
cheats) but he longed to see Jesus that he had to climb a tree because of
his height and desperation. Then Jesus beckoned unto him and dined in
his house to everybody’s surprise. Then Zaccheus said, “...Behold, Lord,
the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from
any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” (Lk19:8) Jesus then
said, “...now is salvation come into this house....” (vs10) The house of a
publican just because of what he said? I believe it was not just what he
said but the state of his heart. Zacchaeus was already a repentant man,
so unlike the scribe who looked good and said the right things salvation
came into the house of the unusual sinner whose heart had changed from
his wicked ways.

Examples abound in the gospels of how Jesus dealt with people. For one, it
is obvious that Jesus deals with us beyond what we say or our acts, rather,
He deals with us based on the intent and thoughts of our hearts. You can
read of other example in John3 of His dialogue with Nicodemus (the secret
disciples), Jesus and Peter about denial, the people who wanted to stone
the woman caught in adultery etc.

Having established these truths I want to venture into the main discuss
and I shall use three Bible characters to drive home these points. The first
is the Samaritan woman at the well whom Jesus asked for water (John4).
Whereas she was trying to twist the dialogue to a religious discuss, Jesus
was bent on saving her from her past. He was addressing her shame (the
same reason she didn’t fetch water when other women came to the well),
He wanted her to discover her potentials notwithstanding the outright
stigma that surrounded her. Through this same shameful woman Jesus
was able to reach out to the Samaritan and he brought to them the gospel
of their salvation while delivering them from the religious spirit and he
made an evangelist out of this woman.

The next case in point is in John5. The man at the pool of Bethesda (house
of mercy) I believe Jesus could have healed this man immediately but He
wanted him to see the reason why he could not obtain from God even in
the house of mercy. Immediately Jesus asked him if he wanted to be
healed, he started pouring out his frustrations about his family members
and friends. He poured out his bitterness and tried as much as possible to
let Jesus know that he was still there for 38years because his family
abandoned him. Having finished his lamentations, Jesus simply told him to
take his bed and walk, this he did and he was made whole. Through Jesus
he was able to see that mercy is always available at the house of mercy
(the Church) and it precludes whoever does or does not want to help you.
Your answer lies in and with God, He is the merciful one but ill feelings
towards your fellow brethren could be a hindrance from
experiencing God’s mercy even though it is available.

Our last candidate is our base scripture. The paralytic man, whose friends,
out of desperation, had to let through somebody’s roof to get to Jesus. The
scripture said when Jesus saw their faith (even though others saw their
destruction of somebody’s property) He said, “your sin is forgiven you.” I
am wont to believe that this man was living in self condemnation and as
long as he remained in this state no amount of prayers could get him
healed. The self guilt may be self imposed in the sense that he may be
thinking that he deserved to be in that state due to some of the things he
had done in the past or it may be un-forgiveness towards someone that
kept him perpetually bound. Whatever it was he had to come out of that
shackle.
I have gone to this extent to show you the way Jesus (God) deals with us
whenever we have an encounter with Him, either induced by us as in the
paralytic man or induced by Him as in the case of the one at the pool or
by chance (there is no chance in God though) as it is the case of the
woman at the well.

Whenever we experience a divine encounter, what God deals with is the

real issue with us. He addresses the canker in our lives, that which has
become the hindrance from getting to the place where God had initially
planned for us, that which has become the hindrance from receiving the
best of God or that which has become a limitation from fulfilling our
purpose in life. He addresses the thing that makes it impossible to get our
lives out of the doldrums and the cycle of nothingness. He addresses that
which is eating us up that may lead to death (physically, emotionally and
even spiritually). This real issue is what I call the canker.

A canker (cancer) according to the dictionary is, “a virulent, corroding

ulcer; or anything that corrodes, corrupts or destroys.” Simply put, it is
that which is eating you up. For as long as this is not taken care of in your
life, you can go through the gyration of prayer, fasting and even
deliverance, it will amount to nothing. Jesus addresses the cancers in us
often to position us to receive from Him. He knows the real issue, as the
Bible says ...men look at appearance but God searches the hearts.... The
greatest disservice you could do to yourself is to keep living in a lie and
not being true to your God. Peradventure you do not know, then the onus
is on you to get in touch with your heavenly father and pray the prayer of
David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my
thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me....”
(Ps139:23,24)
A man of God once said that this is the most dangerous prayer and I
believe so. I also believe it is the best prayer of deliverance and change.
For one you are sure that your God will not play games with you neither
will He lie to you, as the bible says, ...everything is bare before Him whom
we have to do....(Heb4:13)

As we approach the end of another year, you may as well go sincerely

before your heavenly father right now and ask Him to reveal or address
your canker so that you may get the best of Him in the New Year. You
should be tired of going round the cycle, I believe next year is a season for
change, but the change is only available for those who have positioned
themselves for it. You have to make this life time decision now in order to
be part of the flow. For the scriptures say ...if you be willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good... of next year. Start now!