OPENED
Today's reading: Acts 16-18

"One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying." Acts 16:14 NLT

Open-to move; to make available for entry or passage by turning back; to disclose or expose to view; to become enlightened or responsive.

I have to say I was thinking about the adjective 'open', not the verb 'open' this morning.

I would hope, down deep in my heart, that I am open to God.

But to be open (adjective), I must be opened (verb).

A process only God can bring about.

A change only my Creator can make happen.

An act only a close Friend can get personal enough to accomplish.

I have to allow it.

I have to want it.

I have to make myself available to it--and to the response of my heart when I am opened before the Lord--my desires exposed, my sins laid before me, my issues pinpointed and addressed.

Being 'opened' up, heart and soul, like a surgeon would to remove a tumor, lesion or abscess, is not something any of us want to have done...and yet, we want the healing that comes from having the diseased part of us removed.

My prayer for myself is that I will want to be 'opened' up by God so that I am an 'open' vessel ready to be poured in to.