Scan

But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ Luke 18:13

They brought my father to undergo a detailed scan of his head. After his heart attack, the doctors realized he must have blood clot in his brain. To identify where the clot is, they needed to bring him to a clinic with a CT Scanner. With the scan, they specified where the clot was, and they were successful in taking out the clot. You see, without the scan, they would not have located where the unwanted clot in the brain.

Imagine if my father covered his head when inside the scanning machine, of course, they would not have found what should they have found. My father lived after the scan and the operation, eventually he succumbed due to complications after a year.

The tax collector did not cover his heart. He exposed himself to God. He allowed himself to be scanned thoroughly. Before God who is sinless and holy, he recognized the sinner and unholy in him. In contrast, the Pharisee covered his heart and soul inside the scan. He did not want to be exposed before God. He took self-righteousness as his mask. He made going to God’s scanner as a costume party, he was not himself before God.

Imagine the effect of covering yourself before God, you pretend you are whom you are not. No matter what your cover is, God sees and knows who you are.  And in spite of who you are, God loves you. You don’t need to cover yourself before him. You can be yourself before him. You can allow yourself to be scanned before him. You can beat your chest and confess what you have done wrong before him he is ready to forgive and he will still accept you.

Go to the scanner without cover. Be healed. Be justified. And you will live on and on and on. Not only for a year.