Hot Pockets

Yes, Hot Pockets (are you singing the hot pockets commercial in your head right now, LOL, cause I am :)! They are not one of my favorite things to eat, in fact I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have treated myself to the delicacy of a hot pocket, however they just popped into my mind today as an illustration.

You know the irony of a hot pocket is it starts out frozen and all sealed up in a nice neat little package. Not to far off from what we can do to our own “Hot Pockets”. We seal them off, not letting anyone in to touch them, often even sealing them off from God. “God you can have this and this, but not THAT, I am NOT willing to let go of that, I am not willing to FORGIVE THEM, no don’t touch this part.” Or, maybe we just freeze that part, turning it into a hard cold rock like place in our heart. “No, that part has been hurt to many times, It is now frozen over.” After all, if we freeze it we can keep it forever,we are much to afraid to let God touch that hurt and throw it out with the rest of our garbage.

Then someone finds that hot pocket, and pops it in the microwave. All of the sudden there is steam rising, and ooey gooey stuff leaking out the sides. Yes, someone will eventually discover the hot pocket in the freezer of your heart, and when they see it some will want to warm it up. And no matter how they go about doing that, warming up that pocket can cause a definite leakage of steam and gooey messy emotions.

God sees that Hot Pocket in your heart, and rather than warming it up quickly in the microwave or fire of the oven, as some people will do, he knows how to thaw that hot pocket just right, just the temperature he wants it to be. He is gentle, he is kind, and thank goodness he is patient when we let him into the Hot Pockets of our lives. He gently thaws and unwraps our pockets and warms the frozen places, and sometimes, yes he even refines it in the fire, and ouch it may hurt and some emotions may come gushing out! But ultimately, he can heal those hot pockets, if we are WILLING, and give him CONSENT. He won’t do it by force my dear, you must consent.

Ezekiel 36:25-27
I will cleanse you from all you impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.