Friday, April 10, 2020

Learning About Cleanliness The Hard Way

From young we have been told to wash our hands before our meals and keep the germs away. 

Now, we wash our hands more times than ever before and sanitise whatever handles (door, toilet flush) and surfaces (tabletop, lift buttons, handphones) that we need to lay our fingers or hands on. No need to sanitise each other though, as we observe social distancing (be a good example, ya).

When I read the Holy Bible concerning unclean animals, it was with passing understanding. My gloss-over understanding was that these animals have bad hygiene and are dirty. 

Now, I know better that God has been warning us a long time ago, before the scientist has seen the light of day, that these animals host viruses!

Jestingly, Batman is in the hiding because bats are, seriously, listed as unclean. The book of Leviticus (chapter 11, verses 13 - 18; NIV version) from the Old Testament of the Holy Bible records for us that: 

“‘These are the birds you are to regard as unclean and not eat because they are unclean: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, the red kite, any kind of black kite, any kind of raven, the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat." 

The indifference of Covid-19 is depicted in the following poem:-

"For all of us who don’t know
We can read what we want to read
Believe what we want to believe
Hope what we want to hope
Say what we want to say
Eloquently, beautifully, compellingly, persuasively
Presidents, prime ministers, dictators
We can blog, tweet, post, proclaim
Reach thousands, millions
We can want what we want
Do what we want
COVID-19 is not impressed." -- Ken Dryden

What hope do we have then? 
It's back to the Holy Bible for us all. God has the power (ability to do things) for what is beyond us and God looks at our heart to see if we are taking His Word seriously.

Photo by David Beale on Unsplash
"One thing God has spoken,
    two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,
and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;
and, “You reward everyone
    according to what they have done.” -- Psalm 62:11-12 (NIV)

"“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place." --2 Chronicles 7:13-15 (NIV)

We have (in our human power) poured out care packages and clapped our hands to thank and honour our frontline medical staff fighting the scourge of this pandemic.

On that first Good Friday some two thousand years ago in history, Jesus of Nazareth was scourged with a whip and crucified on a cross at Calvary for the sins of the whole world in fulfilment of biblical prophecy.

The Word of God affirms this concerning Jesus' death:-

"But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed." -- Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)

Join me, if you will, and declare that by the stripes that Jesus bore on His body with blood for the remission of sins, we are healed by faith and through faith in the name of JESUS. Amen.

God is speaking to us through this difficult time just as He has been doing so through the ages; He is ready to hear our prayers. 

It's time to pray and turn the tide as we begin to realise that many of our so-called important things in life will come to a standstill to alert us that it is in our best interest to look up to our God and Creator of all things, and take His Word seriously.


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