There is an old expression, “whistling past the graveyard.” It describes acting brave when you are actually afraid, pretending everything is fine, so you don’t have to face what makes you uncomfortable. I wonder whether we sometimes do the same thing spiritually.

It is easy to convince ourselves that we are doing well. We compare ourselves to others, focus on what we are doing right, or hide the parts of our lives that are broken. We can spend a lot of energy trying to distract ourselves from the fearful reality of our sinfulness and weakness.

The Pharisees seemed to believe they were the healthy ones. So when Jesus sat down with tax collectors and sinners, they could not understand it. Jesus’ response is simple: sick people need a doctor.

That is one of the unexpected things about God. We might expect him to move toward those who have everything together, but Jesus repeatedly moves toward the broken, the sinful, and the lost.

God does not ask us to clean ourselves up before coming to Him. He asks us to recognize our need for Him and to stop whistling past the graveyard of our own souls.

That can be difficult. Often, we would rather find comfort in our strengths than admit our weaknesses. Yet there is freedom in honesty. Jesus already knows what is broken in us, and He moves toward us, brokenness and all, when we aren’t afraid to let Him see it.

The question is not whether you are healthy enough for Jesus. The question is whether you are willing to admit that you need the Doctor.

Final Thought: What do you use to comfort yourself that has become a distraction, keeping you from confronting reality and letting God bring resurrection life into your life?