Killer Virus

Well, if we didn’t have enough to worry about, now we have an out-of-season flu season to deal with. The worst part of a late flu season is, it will probably rear its ugly head in the normal cold and flu season next winter, with a vengeance. It’s not time to panic, but time to prepare. As usual, no matter how serious any situation is, someone has to make light of it. You know it was said last year before the presidential election, “Obama will get elected when pigs fly!” Didn’t I hear something about “swine flew”? Well anyway, this is a serious situation and it should be taken seriously. I think some are going a little overboard trying to prevent the spread of this illness, but then again, I’m not the one who has to take all the flack in the end if it’s determined that not enough was done to prevent the loss of life. Oh, by the way, you can kill bacteria, but not a virus. The whole reason for cleaning hands and communal surfaces is to create an environment that viruses don’t like to live on. So, now’s the time to get healthy and prepare for what we know is coming in the future. Your defensive strategy has to be correct, to work.
A young boy called the preacher of another congregation to come and pray for his mom who was very sick with the flu. The preacher asked, “Son, shouldn’t you be calling the preacher of your own congregation?” The little boy replied, “Yeah, but we didn’t want to take the chance he might catch what my mother has.”
A company, feeling it was time for a shake-up, hired a new CEO (Chief Executive Officer). This new boss was determined to rid the company of all slackers. On a tour of the facilities, the CEO noticed a guy leaning on a wall. The room was full of workers and the CEO saw his chance to show everyone he meant business. He walked up to the guy and asked, “And how much money do you make a week?” The young man replied, “I average about $200 a week. Why?” The CEO retrieved $200 cash from his wallet, and handed it to the man. In a voice intended for all to hear, the CEO screamed, “Here’s a weeks pay! Now get out, and don’t come back!!” Feeling pretty good about his first firing, he looked around the room and asked, “Someone tell me what that slacker did here.” With a sheepish grin, one of the workers replied, “He’s the pizza delivery guy.”
[Hebrews 4:13] There was a man who wanted to steal some potatoes from his neighbors field. He placed his little boy standing on the hood of his pick-up truck as a lookout. “Is anyone coming from the north?”, he asked. “No”, replied his son. “From the south?” “No.” “From the east?” “No.” “From the west?” “No, daddy.” “Good. I can go ahead and take the potatoes and no one will ever know.” “But there’s one direction we forgot to look”, said the boy. “Which direction is that?”, asked the father. “UP!”, answered the boy. Up, is the direction we usually fail to look. All too often, we’re focused on a horizontal plane, considering only the earthly and immediate concerns of our existence. Spiritual death, is a real and serious thing to consider. Sin, is disobedience to God and His will for our life. The wages of sin is spiritual death. (Romans 6:23) Temptation is like a virus. If we live in an environment where sin loves to live, we will sin. But, if we keep our environment clean and healthy where sin does not like to be, it will be hard to find sin in ones life. (James 1: 12-18) We all sin and fall short, but the right defensive strategy will save us in the end. Are you preparing for the judgment day?