By There are two things in this world that don’t mix: Pop Rocks and Dr. Pepper, but that’s not important right now. I’m talking about infection and indifference.
As these words are written, there is panic in the streets. We are experiencing the effects of an outbreak. It is an epic epidemic at epidemically epic proportions. A deadly virus has found its way into America the Beautiful. You know its name: Corona, which is kind of an insult to the alcohol mogul of the same name—not for the reasons you might think, but because the product that company manufactures has been killing people for centuries, boasting a death toll with which all the viruses ever to exist combined could not compete; thus, it’s sort of like comparing a geyser to a volcano. But anyway, I daresay you even know the virus’s technical name: COVID-19.
First of all, let’s get one thing straight: COVID-19 is no small or laughing matter. Sure, I’ll be the first to confess that I initially laughed it off (and I wasn’t alone, since, as a rule, the media has chronic “Boy Who Cried Wolf” syndrome). Still, notwithstanding the seriousness of COVID-19, one can’t help but wonder if people are aware that there is a much, much deadlier disease spreading throughout this country, and the world at large.
The pace at which the COVID-19 news has updated has been disorienting, as we continuously learn more and more about the virus—how it can spread, it’s most effective transfer methods, its limitations, etc. Well, imagine if COVID-19 was not just airborne, but cyber-borne—able to infect you by simply speaking to someone via telephone, or even by using your computer or watching your television in a five-feet thick concrete, underground, hermetically sealed bunker with a one-foot thick solid steel door and a enough provisions to last a decade.
But wait, there’s more. Instead of infecting the body, imagine if it was able to penetrate right down into your very soul, and boasted a mortality rate of 99.99%.
Thankfully, COVID-19 does not have these traits. But don’t celebrate too quickly—for there is such a virus that does, in fact, boast these traits. Its name is known to all, mocked by many, and respected by few: the virus of which we speak is called SIN.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
ROMANS 6:23
