Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? (Matthew 6:25)
Last week the Wuhan Bug arrived at our house. I felt it first. It came on me Saturday evening in the form of a low-grade fever. I felt my ears “burn” as I worked on a sermon that I was supposed to deliver the following day at an assisted living facility. I called Linda, the lady in charge of the services, to let her know the situation. At that time, I was not aware that I had been “bitten” by the bug, but knowing the precautions taken at the facility to keep the residents safe, I felt obligated to report my condition. Linda, our leader, was a little distraught because she did not have a substitute on such short notice. So, I promised that if my fever left, I would show up and fulfill my obligation. The next morning, I was ready to preach.
I battle allergies constantly, especially this time of the year. So, for me, what I experienced was “normal.” My wife June, on the other hand started feeling bad Monday. That evening, she took her temperature and it was over 100º. The next day she called in sick to work and made an appointment to see a doctor. She was tested and diagnosed with COVID-19. Naturally, when she tested positive, they called me in and I tested positive as well. Keep in mind that I was not “feeling” sick during all of this time, except for the low-grade fever on Saturday night. The doctor prescribed an infusion of monoclonal antibodies and a medical team came to our house on Wednesday to administer the infusion to us. Following the infusion, I experienced chills and high fever the next two days. June had a similar experience, but after that, we both felt much better.
Our experience with the Wuhan Bug was a mild one compared to some. God made each one of us unique. Each one of us has a one-of-a-kind genetic makeup so that viruses affect us differently. One of the reasons I oppose the COVID injection being pushed by our government is that it is designed to manipulate your DNA. In simple terms, the mRNA injected into your body is supposed to “train” your God-created DNA into fighting of the spike protein of the coronavirus. The scientists that developed this “gene therapy” are ignorant (compared to the Designer and Creator of DNA), fallen, humans who are trying to manipulate what God has created. We must remember that these scientists, for the most part, believe that humans evolved from some common ancestor with ape, therefore they have a low regard for the notion that we were created in the image of God. I could go on, but that is not the purpose of this article.
From the beginning of the “plandemic” June and I have rejected the fearmongering propaganda surrounding it. We decided from the onset that we would trust God rather than men. Some will argue that God gave men intelligence to develop medicines and vaccines to help improve the health of mankind. To a large extent, I agree. In the past, medicines and vaccines have been developed from substances God created in nature. Past remedies stemmed from men “thinking God’s thoughts after Him.” These new so-called mRNA vaccines are none of that. They are all developed from manmade substances which attempt to alter or manipulate what God designed and created. You are welcome to disagree, and you have every right to be wrong, but I digress.
In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount He stressed, “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” The Greek word translated “thought” is merimnaō and it means “to be anxious about” something. The word “anxious” carries the connotation of “sickening worry.” This Wuhan Bug has many people I know and love living in fear, too afraid to come out of their homes for fear of being infected. June and I refuse to live like that without presuming upon God for our safety. We understood that we could be infected, but we also trusted that God would see us through – and He did!
Jesus says to “take no thought for your life.” The Greek word translated “life” here is not the common Greek words translated as “life.” Rather, it is the Greek word, psuchē, which means “breath” or “spirit.” It carries the connotation of the “soul,” which is the very essence of one’s being and existence. A Christian, of all people, should not be worried or anxious about his life knowing that, as Paul said, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8, emphasis mine). If you claim to be a Christian and lack that confidence, then you may need to reassess your position before God.
Jesus goes on to list material things over which we should not worry, but He tied all these back to what He stated earlier. Note that He begins the verse with “Therefore I say unto you.” Anytime we see “therefore” in the Bible, we need to see what it’s “there for.” In this case, Jesus had spoken of storing up treasures in heaven.[1] He stressed the folly of accumulating treasures here on earth, because it decays or can be stolen. “Treasures” can be anything that we value – our home, material possessions, family, time, work, life, etc. These are all temporal in nature. Jesus instructed that we should “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matthew 6:20).
I really long for the day when “the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, emphasis mine). I am shocked when I run into Christians that do not share my enthusiasm for the Lord’s return, and in fact, they hope that He does not return anytime soon because they have so many treasures here on earth that they are unwilling to turn loose. Jesus reminds us, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). Where is your treasure?
Divided loyalties weaken the Christian and make him susceptible to fear and worry. Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). You can either put your trust in and serve the things of this world (“mammon”) or you can place your trust in God for His provision knowing that your life, your psuchē, is in His strong and loving hands. If your trust is in Him, the Wuhan Bug should not scare you.
Ernie's Musings 