Bleeding Me

I'm a Metallica fan.  Or at least I was.  I don't really listen to them on purpose anymore, but when I'm cutting grass or working out and a song of theirs happens to come on on my iPod mix, I listen enthusiastically.  The other day, "Bleeding Me" by the band came on as I was cutting my mom's grass, and with nothing better to do than follow behind while the machine did all the work, I listened a bit more intently (over the grinding sound of the motor and the blades) to the words.

I'm diggin' my way
I'm diggin' my way to something
I'm diggin' my way to somethin' better

I'm pushin' to stay
I'm pushin' to stay with something
I'm pushin' to stay with something better

I'm sowing the seeds
I'm sowing the seeds I've taken
I'm sowing the seeds I take for granted

This thorn in my side
This thorn in my side is from the tree
This thorn in my side is from the tree I've planted

It tears me and I bleed
And I bleed

There's more to the song, and much of the rest of it really doesn't pertain to what dawned on me.  But as I listened to the words I couldn't get away from the fact that they speak a lot of truth into where I am headed as a Christian and how I have come to view God.  Now, don't get mad or offended at my next statement.  Please be sure to read the rest before passing judgment.  But I cannot get rid of the idea that God makes a great leech.

Most people, myself included, would look upon a leech with mild to severe disgust.  Rightfully so.  They're not at all pleasant to look at, and what they do to you can be down right nasty.  But what I know about leeches is quite fascinating, and this why I am able to make the comparison between a leech and God.  

In ancient times, people would use leeches to try to cure people suffering from all sorts of medical issues.  They believed that leeches could "bleed" the sickness out of  someone who was ill.  

I believe God does that.  I do.  

In medieval times, doctors used millions of leeches each year to help treat patients suffering from various maladies.  The idea that leeches would bleed impurities and harmful illnesses out a person by pulling the harmful things out of them and taking these things into their own bodies seemed logical.

Doesn't God do that?  Doesn't He promise to remove the impurities in our own bodies--primarily our hearts and minds--and take them into Himself?  Didn't Jesus tell us that the burden was too much for us to bear, so He would take it from us?  Isn't that leech-like?

Modern medicine has found that the saliva of a leech actually has a chemical characteristic to it that allows blood to flow smoothly from a wound, slowing the clotting process.  By using leeches today, doctors are able to more efficiently reattach limbs, ears, fingers, toes, etc...that require the minute reconnect of veins that would, before the idea of using leeches, would commonly clot before the reattachment could take.   This would cause severe post-surgery clotting and venous engorgement which could permanently damage a person's body or, worse, lead to death.  

God is a lot like that.  God has a spiritual characteristic that allows love, grace, humility, and kindness to flow into and out of an otherwise hardened heart and soul.  By having God in our lives, it allows each of us to save the parts of ourselves that the world would otherwise destroy.  Without God, how much more at risk are we of losing our hearts?  Our minds?  Our souls?  And, ultimately, our eternal lives?  How easy would it be to allow the world to permanently damage us?  By having an intimate relationship with God, by going to church and fellowshipping with like-minded  and like-spirited people, by taking time for prayer, by taking more seriously your time with God and His Word, we are allowing Him to reconnect our disconnected lives to His.  The world will do us harm.  The world will damage us; it will sever our connections to and with God if we let it.  And even if we do stray, the God of the Universe, the Great Physician, like a leech, will willingly bleed the impurities out of us if and when we let Him.  He will increase the flow of his holy-oxygenated blood in our lives so that we can reattach ourselves to His side.  I believe that.  I am living that.

God's bleeding of me has been and continues to be a long, drawn-out process.  I've been sickened by this world quite a bit; and I still find myself falling into its lies and lures and eases.  God has had His work cut out for Him when it comes to dealing with the likes of me.  But every day God attaches another leech to me.  Slowly, painfully at times, I'm seeing the change and "pushing to stay".   "The thorn in my side is from the tree I planted" but God is helping to remove it, roots and all.  slowly.

The people He has put in my life who encourage me to persevere...leeches.

The church He has made me a part of...a leech.

The music I listen to nowadays; music with uplifting, inspiring words and messages...leeches.

My wife and children...leeches.

My friends...leeches. 

The books I'm motivated to read...leeches.

The Bible...a leech.

The Sunday Sermons...leeches.

Inexpressible wonders that I see in nature....leeches. 

Slowly, God is bleeding me.  I'll take it. I'll take the leech.