"By His wounds we are healed."
I don't know about you, but the Ebola virus sounds like the nastiest virus a person can contract. Sure many viruses cause fever, body aches and headaches etc., but the internal and external bleeding is what adds the major gross factor. No, I'm not afraid of blood. But being completely unable to get away from your own rotting destruction sounds completely horrible to me. Also, knowing you are dying, and knowing that your very presence poses a great risk for anyone who comes in contact with you or anything you've touched would bring a terrible sense of guilt and fear and desperation. After all, who wants to be alone when they die?
Sometimes I think of sin like a Spiritual Ebola, a devastating virus that rots us from the inside out. One might be able to "deal with it" and hide it for a while, but eventually it becomes exceedingly obvious that something is drastically wrong. It doesn't just affect the "wicked" either. Even "good" people drop like flies when they become ensnared by sinful lusts. And those who don't take precautions to guard against being ensnared often succumb in the worst way, seemingly without remedy.
Like those who have contracted the Ebola virus, many may not understand early on just how dangerous and contagious their condition is, until it overtakes them and they can no longer deny it. Some, who are so steeped in sin, though they see their condition, often seek out others who "accept them the way they are" because they do not want to be alone. No one wants to die alone.
I know that we can't turn off our love for others. I would hope not anyway. But rather than exercising restraint, some are so calloused to their own wretchedness that they risk the exposure of their loved ones to the very thing that is destroying their own lives. Unfortunately this happens all to often. Generational sin is passed on and on because children are like little sponges and can't help but pick up on their parents habits and regrettably, they often become just like them, sometimes even worse.
However, unlike the Ebola virus, there is a free and immediate cure for those with "Spiritual Ebola". What is necessary is to recognize your condition, and the cure is there for the taking. A man who recognizes his need for spiritual healing from sin needs only to look to Jesus, the one who takes it away. Other religions will tell you all the steps a man should take to overcome the problem of sin. But no other religion offers such an answer as that of the Christian Faith. They either down play the problem or create a list of "works" to perform in order to be set free.
Like a man who was healed from the Ebola virus would never carelessly put himself in the same situation from which he was saved, one who has truly been saved from their sin would not run back to the source of their spiritual death and readily embrace it again. Once enlightened and set free, the conscience rejects it's former death sentence and earnestly clings to life. If this isn't a victory you've experienced, it might just be that you haven't truly been saved.
If a person comes to Jesus for any reason without ever seeing the depravity of his soul and desperate need of forgiveness, then he has come to Jesus for the wrong reason, and quite possibly may not truly know Him. The family faith, being blessed, being physically healed, having needs met, bargaining submission for favor of some kind, responding emotionally to the call of God but not surrendering spiritually...all of these reasons for coming to Jesus are called "false conversions". A false conversion brings nothing but disillusionment, sorrow, anger and lack of victory over sin. Those who have "come to Jesus" during emotional moments or times of desperation often find themselves empty and lacking any formidable faith. They find themselves in complete disbelief, feeling duped. Their exodus from the Christian Faith leaves them believing there is no God and that religion is just a crutch...because that's all it ever was for them. Their Spiritual Ebola was never really cured. They never even knew they had it. They were merely treating some other symptom and equating it with the Cure.
If my words are resonating with you right now, do not even hesitate to call upon God. Plead with Him for the forgiveness of your sin. There is no sin too great that He can not forgive. If you're looking at your life and recognizing a pattern of slavery to sin that you've not been able to overcome, and your shame is driving you to repentance...repent! God will indeed set you free and in His Spirit you will find the strength to overcome. I'm praying for those of you who read my blog posts. And I'm asking for your salvation and edification in the name of Jesus Christ.
If you're interest, you can drop me a line and share your story with me. I'd love to hear it. You can reach me at info@amyredding.com.
My prayer is that you will see your need for Jesus. He can and will forgive your sin if you call upon Him.
2 comments:
I like phrase of words used here, spiritual ebola, to represent the destructive nature lack of faith can generate in those who are desperately in need of not just salvation but guidance and purpose :)
But like all sicknesses how does one convince others they need help when like a blind man walking off a cliff, are certain they are ok?
Psalm 19:7 . "The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul..."
Romans 3:19 "...by the Law is the knowledge of sin."
Like a mirror, it is the law of God that will show a man his need for salvation. When morality and goodness are shown to have their origins and definitions outside of the will of man, we know enough to seek the Author of life. And it is in Him that we find salvation.
Romans 3:26 "...that He might be just and the Justifier of him who believes in Jesus". The point of this is that God's holiness demands that justice be satisfied. But because God knows that we are weak and that the Law itself is unable to satisfy justice, He Himself satisfied justice by the sacrifice of His son upon the cross.
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