As I write we are in day 3 of our official NZ lockdown due to COVID-19. I'm almost afraid to write that name as we are all probably so tired of hearing about it. The news is full of it, social media is notifying us of updates, reports from various countries, etc etc etc. However.....stay with me for a bit and see if what comes out is helpful to you. This pandemic has turned out to be a huge equaliser. No country is exempt in the end, no person - rich or poor, no ethnicity, no age. It has brought us all to the realisation that it is no respecter of persons and therefore no-one is excluded from needing to take precautions against infection.
I was messaging with a Christian friend this morning who struggles with fear. She probably has more reason to fear, (healthwise), than me, but I was reminding her that the battle with fear is always in our mind. James 1:15 speaks of temptation to sin starting as a thought (in the mind), then as we 'toy' with it, it can lead us to sin. We choose whether we entertain those thoughts or fight them.
As I wrote, I was reminding her that God has given us weapons to fight with against fear and anything else that assails us. We know them as "the whole armour of God". When Paul was writing to the church as Ephesus (6:10-18) he wrote this..... "Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armour so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armour so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armour of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere."
In 2 Corinthians 10:4 Paul explains more about these weapons..... 'We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.'
The great equalising thing I suddenly realised about this that I had never thought of before was, that God has given each of us exactly the same weapons for our battle against Satan, the enemy of our souls. The Bishop doesn't get any more or different weapons than the minister and the minister gets exactly the same weapons as the newest Christian. They might be more experienced in using them as would be a General in the army than the new recruit, but we get an equal amount of weaponry. How good is that!
In the same way that COVID-19 is no respecter of persons, the Bible tells us too, that God is no respecter of persons. In the end we will all stand before the judgement seat of Christ, having all had the opportunity to accept, by faith, his sacrifice on the cross for our sin. No amount of 'good living' counts towards our entrance to heaven. We and we alone choose our eternal destiny. I pray that you will choose Christ.
Prayer: God in heaven, thank you for this wake up call that affects each one of us. Thank for for the gift of this time to think, consider, question and decide what we will do with Jesus Christ and His message of salvation by faith alone. Amen
The great equalising thing I suddenly realised about this that I had never thought of before was, that God has given each of us exactly the same weapons for our battle against Satan, the enemy of our souls. The Bishop doesn't get any more or different weapons than the minister and the minister gets exactly the same weapons as the newest Christian. They might be more experienced in using them as would be a General in the army than the new recruit, but we get an equal amount of weaponry. How good is that!
In the same way that COVID-19 is no respecter of persons, the Bible tells us too, that God is no respecter of persons. In the end we will all stand before the judgement seat of Christ, having all had the opportunity to accept, by faith, his sacrifice on the cross for our sin. No amount of 'good living' counts towards our entrance to heaven. We and we alone choose our eternal destiny. I pray that you will choose Christ.
Prayer: God in heaven, thank you for this wake up call that affects each one of us. Thank for for the gift of this time to think, consider, question and decide what we will do with Jesus Christ and His message of salvation by faith alone. Amen
