A Smoldering Wick

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:1-8 ESV).

If my experience has taught me anything, it is that many people feel like their lives are no more than “a smoldering wick.” Their spiritual lamp has almost gone out. Jesus will not quench the little spark of spiritual life left in you. The Spirit of the Lord is upon him gentle for now. As long as this life lasts the atmosphere of Jesus is all oxygen. The faintest spark of spiritual life will glow and grow when it comes into contact with Jesus. "God sent not the Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved." Jesus did not come to snuff out your struggling flicker but to fan it carefully into a torch for his glory. These are comforting words from God's Word. However, there must be a caution at this point. Jesus did not speak tenderly to everybody. The bruised reed and the smoldering wick are the penitent sinners who are crushed by circumstances or by their own failures. They are despairing of their own wisdom and resources to make anything worthwhile out of life. They are the poor in spirit who mourn (cf. Matthew 5:3-4). They are the publican who cries out "God be merciful to me, a sinner!" For these there is great tenderness, forgiveness, healing, and comfort. But the tone of our Lord is very different toward the unrepentant. There are a lot of people today who feel just as miserable as a bruised reed and a smoldering wick but who have no intention of turning to Jesus. They are like the rich young man when Jesus told him to “sell what you possess and give to the poor," the man turned away sorrowful (cf. Matthew 19:22). His heart was untouched by the Spirit of God. We must be cautious in our encouragement to others that we don’t fail to challenge them in their sin with the Gospel. Loving words for the unrepentant are words of warning, not words of comfort. But for the poor in spirit, who humble themselves and cry out for mercy and turn from their sin, Jesus is a tender healer and life-giver. "He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick." He waits for all of us… come to Him!