But you dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, expecting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. Have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; have mercy on others but with fear, having even the garment defiled by the flesh.
Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless and with great joy to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen Jude 1:20-25 HCSB
Between flu season and the spread of the coronavirus, we should all be praying that our immune systems are strong enough to stand against these dreaded illnesses. A dear friend’s daughter lives in Korea where they have closed all schools and universities in the country and are living under a nationwide quarantine. I shudder to think about that happening in our country, but there are already cases being reported in Washington state and in our neighboring state of Texas.
When it comes to something like a deadly virus no one wants to be around someone who might infect them with that, right? But there are certain people that we hope will infect us with their positive or even bubbly personalities. There are those people who have this joy that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). Who doesn’t want a good strong case of that, right?
So, I must ask you this morning, are you contagious? Is there any danger of anyone around catching what you have? Our scripture passage says that we should keep ourselves in the love of God expecting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. It tells us to have mercy on the doubters, save those that are dancing into the flames, and to have mercy on others with fear, hating even the garments defiled by the flesh. We all know those people that are just pure evil. I think this scripture passage tells us that they are contagious and we should pray for them from a safe distance so that we are not infected or affected by their evil works.
The last part of our passage tells us that we should glorify God through Jesus Christ as he keeps us from stumbling, makes us to stand in the presence of His glory, makes us blameless and gives us great joy. When we do these things we are infectious. When we keep ourselves in the love and mercy of God, it shows. When we have mercy on others, it shows. When we snatch others from an eternal life of fire and damnation, we draw the attention of those watching us.
Now if you walk into a room and profess that you have the coronavirus or even the flu, I seriously doubt that you will find anyone that wants what you have. But when you live your life in close relationship with your Lord and Savior, you have a peace about you even in bad times that others have a hard time understanding. You have this unending joy. You aren’t living by your circumstances, you are living by your close, personal relationship with your Lord and Savior. You trust in Him. You know that you stand strong because He upholds you by His righteous hand (Isaiah 41:10). You choose to live in His shelter, so you know that you are protected from whatever comes your way (Psalm 91). Because you keep your eyes on the Lord, He is at your right hand and you will not be shaken. Your heart is glad, your body is secure because you know that God is faithful and will never leave you (Psalm 16:8-10). You can rest assured that He’s going to take good care of you.
Psalm 91:5-7 tells us that we will not fear the terror of the night, the arrow that flies by day, the plague that stalks in the darkness, or the pestilence that ravages at noon. It says that though a thousand may fall at our side and ten thousand at our right hand, the pestilence will not reach us.
Trust in God, glorify Him in your words and your actions. When you do this, you will be amazed at the results. Bring glory and honor to Him and He will protect you and take good care of you. And my friend, when this happens, your faith will be infectious. Wouldn’t it be great if we could contaminate our neighborhoods, our cities, our parishes or counties, our states and even our entire nation with faith, hope, love and mercy? It only takes one contagious person to accomplish this. So why not get started?
Have a great day!