If you have ever hung a painting before, you know how good it feels to finally get it level and at the right height. Similarly, there is something so gratifying about organizing a closet or a kitchen cabinet. We tend to be more at peace when everything is in its proper place. Recently, I have noticed myself becoming anxious when there is a pile of dishes in the sink or a scattering of my daughter’s toys on the floor. I can usually resolve these issues in a matter of minutes. Other things take much more time.
Straightening teeth, for example, takes much longer than cleaning the house. It is also far more painful and traumatic. I, myself, have never had braces–my teeth are fairly crooked. Before I became a Christian, this was a major source of insecurity for me. I would often cut my smiles or laughing short to prevent someone from possibly pointing out a snaggletooth. Now that in am in Christ, I do not carry this burden any longer. I now understand that my crooked teeth testify to the fact that this world is not right. Things are not the way God created them to be. Like an impacted tooth, every atom is growing in sideways, waiting to be made new. Listen to what Paul says about this is his letter to the Romans.
Romans 8:19; 22-23 “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God…For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
All of creation realizes that there is something wrong, something off, so to speak. Ultimately, the problem boils down to humanity’s sin. Our hearts are crooked, ladies and gentlemen. We long to sink our heart’s crooked teeth into the proverbial forbidden fruit. But, there is no orthodontist in the universe that can fix the crookedness of the heart. I don’t know of any dentists who have raised the spiritually dead (Perhaps, there are some Christian dentists who have raised the physically dead). Sinners need more than a dentist; we need a Savior.
Jesus Christ is that Savior. Not only did He straighten crooked spines and raise the dead to life, He laid down His perfect life that the scoliosis of our souls would be healed. Praise the Lord that even though I still have crooked teeth, my soul has been made clean and new!
And one day, I will even have new teeth (verse 23)!
The Real Zeal 