I needed to see my doctor today as I have been struggling with an issue for a few weeks and self-medication has not worked. We have been the doctor’s patient for about 27 years or more. He told me that he had COVID-19. He says he is not sure how he became infected … it might have been due to seeing a patient or perhaps standing in the queue at Woolies. In January when I saw him last, he felt that Covid-19 was overplayed, because throughout the world a million or more die of the flu each year. Today, he said he has revised his beliefs about COVID-19 since he was infected. He said he was so sick he thought he would die. He said he had never in his life been that ill before. He is now immune, but said that if he ever got the virus again, he would run away into a forest and lie down under a tree and die. He says this virus is a killer and is asking me to please stay safe and stay home. The next two to three weeks, he says, are going to be the worst. Now, most of us have realized that this virus is deadly … easily contracted and spreading extremely fast. He also mentioned that a doctor friend of his lost his father on the past Tuesday due to COVID-19. The day before, he was as fit as a fiddle. Two days later, his wife died of the same disease. These were the words of a man who had death knocking at his door!
The first thing that comes to mind is that, as the president said in his nation-wide address last night, “too many people are reckless”. You and I have seen this as we have gone to the shops or driven along the roads, seeing people walking without masks, and have gone past schools seeing the children gathered almost on top of each other. Similarly, we’ve all watched the TV news seeing people refuse to obey COVID-19 protocols. The virus is deadly … yet people say things along the lines of, “yes, we believe the virus is deadly, but gosh … It’ll only hit people in those areas, in taxis and church gathering or funerals.” It’s like the young couple going the “intimate distance” believing that she’ll never fall pregnant or he’ll never contract an STD. “After all, these things only happen to ‘bad’ people … and I’m not bad!” Wendy Patrick (Ph.D.) wrote the article “Is Deception in the Eye of the Beholder, or the Deceiver?” So many people deceive themselves, saying “this or that will never happen to me”! Self-deception is lying to yourself!
John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Beloved, COVID-19 is deadly. It kills, and it’s going to have its way with many more casualties. Not only will the infection rate spike … so will the death rate. I was told how a wife picked up this virus at her work and gave it to her husband, who gave it to his employers who in turn gave it to their family. It’s fast-spreading and deadly!
When a person dies of COVID-19, where does that person’s soul go? Is this a frivolous question? Not at all because the same could be asked of a person dying of old age, cancer, heart attack, motor vehicle crash, etc. You see, it all depends upon whether the person is to be found in Christ or away from Christ. Romans 6:22-23 explains what happens when you are “in Christ”:
Rom 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 … but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Irrespective of the shape of death, the follower of Jesus is sealed … he or she enjoys eternal life. Note that it is a gift of God because the glory of eternal life and salvation is all given by God through the merits of Jesus’ blood sacrifice. But, the person outside of the scope of that blood sacrifice is lost. Romans 6:23 starts like this: “For the wages of sin is death” … that is, eternal death. You see, eternal life is a gift of God and is by grace where eternal death is because of sin … and sin’s wages (its earnings) are separation from God … death. Other terms for eternal death is hell, Lake of Fire, damnation and punishment.
Rev 20:14-15 … The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
COVID-19 is standing at the door knocking. That is how serious it is. Spiritually, the devil is also standing at the door knocking, wanting your attention. But someone else is knocking too. Rev 3:20 says:]
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
There are three invitations, but the last two are the most important … devil or Jesus … hell or heaven! Where would you say you are right now spiritually? Have you confidence that you belong to Jesus, that you are blood-covered? Or are you hopeless, standing far from Jesus without hope of escaping hell? Three are knocking … the first one, COVID-19, leads to physical death. Actually, we will all die of something. The second knock is the knock of the devil, wanting you to destroy your life in eternal punishment. This is the consequence of sin. The last knock is from Jesus, gently, patiently beckoning you to come and enjoy what He offers through repentance and faith. Exactly where do you stand right now?
Dear God, thank You for knocking on the door of my heart. Lord, it’s wide open. Please come in. Amen.