The body wearies and the spirit groans under the weight of sickness, this is a fellowship of suffering known to all who dwell in tabernacles of clay. Yet it is written, "He took our infirmities, and bore our sicknesses." There is not a disease in all the catalogue of human woe that the Savior did not heal, and there is no fever of the flesh so burning that His cool hand cannot subdue it. He who healed all sorts of sickness has not lost His power, the leaves of the Tree of Life are still for healing, and the least thing about Christ is full of virtue for our restoration. Your cry arises from a bed of weakness, and He who heard the sighing of the needy is attentive still.
But what is this note that sounds in your request, "I am sorry"? Sickness often unseals the conscience, and the voice of bodily pain becomes an echo of a deeper disquiet. It is easy in the hour of fever and fretfulness to feel a qualm concerning sin, when the grave seems to open its mouth for us. Many upon a bed of sickness have repented after a fashion, when their bones ached and their hearts melted, yet repentance that is born only of terror, that springs from the dread of death and judgment, is a plant that withers when the sun of health returns. The goodness of God does not drive you to this; it would lead you, not flog you like a slave into forced confession. True repentance is a gift, preached in the name of Jesus Christ, and wrought by the Spirit. It gives God glory. It loathes the sin because it is committed against so holy a being, and it turns from the evil with a hatred made possible only by love. Have you a repentance that looks out of self to Christ alone?
The sweetest repentance is that which weeps, not because Hell is feared, but because Heaven has been opened to us in the pierced heart of the Redeemer. It is a repentance that lives as long as faith, that walks hand in hand with remission, and that makes a rainbow with tears of grief for sin and glances of hope at the cross. You are weary, then cease from yourself, and come to Him. Even the little things about Christ are healing; His very shadow falling upon the soul can make it whole. There is an abundance of healing power in His salvation, and He heals not only the body but the sin-sick soul, for it is He whom God has sent for the healing of the nations. The Tree of Life bestows immortal health, and its leaves are not withered. Cry to Him as the Good Physician, and know that His gifts and calling are without repentance, He never draws back. If you yield to His drawing, the sickness of soul shall end in everlasting health, and the body, though it may languish for a season, shall be raised in power. Repentance and remission are joined; where the one is found, the other is sure. Look to Jesus, and the healing leaves shall change the very life-blood of your spirit, making you other than you were before.