Mats and Scars

Mats and Scars 

Our testimonies of encounters with Christ often include wonderful things we received and bad stuff we threw away, but say very little about what remained. The reality however is not all old stuff goes when the new comes. Sometimes, it is so because not all old things are bad in themselves. Peter after healing a paralytic, Aeneas, in Acts 9:34  told him to take up his mat and care for it. Perhaps you can identify with Aeneas, after the wonderful work of God in your life, you still had to deal with the same situations at home, work, school and so on. In cases, you have had to live with some scars and consequences from your past life.

Granted like Aeneas you must care for something from your past. You can joyfully take up your mat and care for it because Christ gives it new meaning (2 Corinthians 5:17).  He transforms it just as He transformed the cross from being a symbol of brutality to one of love. Interestingly, He himself bore the scars of the cross after His resurrection. Aeneas’ mat was a symbol of his own cross experience. It reminded him how chose God’s instructions in place of doubt and it earned him access to the benefits for which Jesus Christ died. The mat, therefore, once a symbol of confinement, became a symbol of comfort. Before meeting Christ, it was an instrument of limited freedom. It became an illustration of freedom. The mat became proof that God had done something marvelous. It most likely became a daily inspiration for Aeneas to expect great things from God who had healed him (Hebrew 6:9).  It became a constant reminder of God’s goodness and grace and a tool for sharing it. This new meaning completely overwrote the bad experience of the past. Your mats and scars can do the same. Things you resented can become material to build on. Some places you avoided can become places you positively affect. The people you disliked can become people you love and influence.