EBOLA VIRUS!

          With current news about the Ebola Virus in the News here in the US, several thoughts have presented themselves to me.   First I am reminded of this passage from the book of Haggai 2:12-13. "If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?" The priests answered and said, "No."   Then Haggai said:  "If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?"  The Priests answered:  "It does become unclean."

            What does this have to do with the Ebola Virus?  In the text the "uncleanness", or disease virus, is transferable while the "holy" or "wellness" is not transferable.  With Ebola, while the mere touch of a person does not transfer the virus to someone else, the touch of any bodily fluid from an infected person to one who is not infected can transmit the virus and make the person sick.  The person who is well, or whole (holy), can get the disease from the sick person.  But the sick person cannot be made well even by the close, personal contact of the well person.  The healthy person must take careful precautions in order to not be infected by the person he is trying to help.

            It is much like sin.  Sin is a deadly virus.  It is easily transferred from one person to another.  A good person will readily "catch" the sin of the world they live in unless they take careful precautions to keep "unspotted from the world".  (James 1:27)  It is "easy" for sin to take over our life.  It is NOT easy for holiness to take over our life. 

            Except in the life of Jesus.  First of all, God sent His Son into our world with the full risk that sin could overcome Him.  Jesus lived among us as a man, with the same tools we have.  He could have sinned, He could have failed.  That is the risk the Father, because of His love for us, was willing to take in order to save us.  Think about that for awhile.  The Son of God came down to this evil world that Satan claimed as his own.  He came as a human baby, grew as a human child, and lived as a human man.  He lived in a town so filled with sin that the first question Nathanael asked when hearing He was from Nazareth was:  "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"  Yet He did not "get the sin virus".

            Throughout His life Jesus worked with sinners, ate food prepared by them, touched the lepers and those with all kinds of "issues", yet He did not become contaminated.  He, the Holy One of God, touched, and kissed, the unholy and "unclean".  Yet it was the "unclean" who "caught" the "holy virus" from Him!  Because of the Holy Spirit that was there at His conception He was called "that Holy Thing"  (Luke 1:35).  Everywhere He went people were transformed.  They were healed of all different kinds of diseases, but most of all from the disease of sin.

          Jesus is still in the healing business.  He longs to make us impervious to the sin virus. Make us holy as He is holy.  "Be filled with the Spirit" is still His invitation to us.  Invite the Holy Spirit into your heart today, and surrender yourself to His control.  If we will accept Jesus into our hearts, His promise is that from us will flow waters of healing to all we come in contact with.