Daily devotional, Jan 17, 2024 Lifetime warranty
“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.”
Psalm 56:8
Jim bought a new phone and is so excited to use it. It however malfunctioned on day 1 and so he took it to the store for warranty repair. The clerk checked the records and verified that his phone is still under manufacturer’s warranty so it was repaired for free. Unfortunately, the phone crashed again after a few days and he had to go back to the service center. After checking his records, and confirming that he did nothing to void the warranty, the clerk again had his phone repaired for free.
In our Christian life, we should be glad that like Jim, we can keep on coming back to our manufacturer for mending. When we are broken, we have a loving Creator who promises to wash and heal our hearts, and renew our strength.
"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken."
Psalm 34:18-20
But unlike the manufacturer of Jim’s watch, the Lord does not impose a warranty period that will limit how many times we can ask Him to fix our brokenness. We can come to him at seven years old and we can come to him even when we are 77. All we need to do is to present our broken and contrite heart, and our Lord Jesus Christ will take care of it for us.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
Another unique thing about asking Jesus to mend our crushed hearts is that he will repair it for us even if it got broken because of our own fault. Warranties offered in this world are usually voided when the buyer misused the product, or had it repaired elsewhere. Our Lord and Savior on the other hand will accept and repair our broken lives even if the damage that we incurred is self-inflicted, due to our wrong choices, and because of our hardened hearts. As long as we are willing to admit our mistakes, repent on them, and accept that only Jesus can save us, He will take us on.
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."
Psalm 51:17
Lastly, unlike the warranties and repair services of this world, our Jesus can fix everything. There is no limit to what He can do. He will not give up on us no matter how shattered, devastated, and crushed our souls are. As Rev. Fr, Jerry Orbos says, “a broken heart is an open heart,” and when we offer that badly damaged heart of ours to the Lord, He sees the opportunity to dwell on it, and we will be well again.
"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:4
If you feel broken today, take the opportunity to pray. Offer your brokenness to God and give Him that bleeding heart of yours. Cry it out to Him because He listens and He heals. Let Him carry you through your dark valley, and take on His offer of true and lasting love and peace.
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Psalm 34 to dig deeper on today’s topic.
Reflection Question: Does your heart need mending?
Conversation with the Lord: Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for allowing us to come to you when we need healing. You are our Divine Creator and only you know how to mend us. Thank you that you forgive us for disobeying you and for hurting ourselves and others. May we enjoy the lasting peace that you offer, as we surrender our trouble and tired hearts to you. Amen.