Fussing Over A Blemish

Ronnie, a handsome looking eleven-year-old boy, is one of my "special" patients.  I have known Ronnie since he was five years old, some time after he developed sudden liver failure and required a liver transplant at a nearby hospital.  His surgery was quite successful; however, because a suitable sized organ was not available at the time, Ronnie received a liver that was much too large to fit properly in his abdominal cavity.  As a consequence, the surgeon had to to leave the abdominal muscles open, so that the liver, jutting prominently from his belly, was carefully covered only by his stretched-out skin and a small amount of underlying tissue.  I followed Ronnie for several years while he lived with a relatively unprotected liver, and was quite relieved when he was finally big enough to undergo additional surgery and have the defect corrected.  Needless to say, the extensive surgeries left Ronnie with quite a few abdominal scars, but Ronnie never appeared to be too concerned about them, as his belly was almost always concealed by clothing.

During the office visit, I discussed with Ronnie and his mother his recent health, his medication prescription, results of his recent appointment with the transplant surgeon, his family, his friends, and how he was doing at school.  All seemed to be well.  The physical examination was also quite satisfactory.  As I filled out some paperwork for the family, the mother casually asked me about "this small whitehead under Ronnie's left eye that wouldn't go away".  I admitted that I did not notice it before, and examined his face more carefully.  Indeed, about an inch under his left eye, there was a very small, pearly bump that was no more than 1-2 mm, or about one-sixteenth of an inch in size.  There was no redness, bleeding, scratches, or discoloration of the surrounding skin.  Having seen the same kind of lesion many times before, I smiled, and did my best to provide reassurance:

"Ronnie, that little bump under your eye is a very common thing called "molluscum contagiosum".  A lot of kids have them, and I probably had them at some point.  It's caused by a virus, and usually they will go away completely after a few months without any treatment.  You don't want to scratch or pick at it though, because it sometimes may spread to other parts of the skin.  Just leave it alone, and you'll be fine."

I got on the computer and showed Ronnie and his mother drawings and pictures of the lesion, and the mother knowingly recalled that she once had several of those on her chin before that was treated with either chemicals or liquid nitrogen, and that it left a scar for a while.  The mother seemed content to leave the lesion alone, since any treatment of the lesion may actually make it look worse.

Unfortunately, Ronnie suddenly became tearful and upset, and demanded that something be done to get rid of that "ugly" thing, which actually was barely perceptible to the casual eye.  He didn't care that treatment might leave him with a worse looking scar, or that it might be very painful.  He wanted it gone, and he wanted it gone IMMEDIATELY.  I had no choice but to go ahead and refer him to a dermatologist, and felt a bit embarrassed that I couldn't handle such a simple, harmless skin problem.

Overreaction?  Definitely.  On the other hand, when it comes to hearing God's word, we are commanded to pay attention to the slightest detail:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.  (James 1:22-25)


God's word reveals His perfect character, exposes our iniquity, and defines his direction and will for our lives.  If we are "doers of the word", it compels us to respond, and what we see will be much more than a tiny spot under the left eye.

A Matter of Consumption

"Diego, I'm going to do a little test on you in order to get to know some of your habits.  We'll start with a game just to get you warmed up.  OK?"

"Uh, OK."

Diego came with his mother to have his stomachaches checked out.  After a couple of minutes of casual conversation, I learned that he likes to play basketball, but eats way too much fast food.

"You like to watch NBA basketball on TV?"

"Yeah."

"Great.  For the warm-up exercise, I'll give you 30 seconds, and I want you to name for me as many NBA basketball teams as you can come up with.  Ready?  Go!"

I noted the time on my watch, and within a couple of seconds, Diego started to rattle off a list of team names:

"Lakers, Clippers, Knicks, Mavericks, Heat, Cavaliers...Hornets, Thunder, Magic...."

"Good job.  Now, the fun part.  I'll give you 30 seconds again, but this time I want you to name for me as many vegetables as you can possibly think of.  Go!"

"Uh, carrots, broccoli..."

He was off to a good start, but stalled considerably after the first two vegetables, and eventually only added spinach and tomatoes to the list.  He later confided that he hated spinach.  Diego seemed to consume NBA basketball on TV much more than he consumed vegetables.

I was teaching Sunday school to the eighth graders at church a few days later, and decided to play the same game with the students, with a twist.  I asked them to list for me all the Bible verses that they were familiar with.  Sadly, most could not come up with more than one or two verses, and half the class mentioned John 3:16.  It was evident that their consumption of God's word was woefully deficient.


"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.  (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

If we truly love God, we will have no trouble loving His words and commands, and will know many of them as if they are on the back of our hands.  Meanwhile, turn off the TV, and pass the vegetables, please.