A Little Virus!

Galatians 5:9
A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.

It has been an exciting past couple of days. Exciting like a train wreck! We evidently had some kind of pesky virus find its way into the church on Sunday and now that little leaven (virus) has been making its way through the congregation. At last count, some 35 people have been affected by the bug. Hopefully in the next 24-48 hours we will be okay. Nothing like a stomach flu to start the week!

All this serves as an interesting illustration of how something so seemingly small can have such an impact. Sin has a way of creeping its way far beyond what we imagine. All the more reason to rid ourselves of sin (as best we can).

The great Puritan scholar John Owen spent much time considering and probing this matter of eliminating sin. In the 17th century, he wrote a little 86-page book called "Mortification of Sin in Believers." The word "mortify" means "kill" in 17th century English - not "embarrass" or "shame" as it is often understood today. Owen made a remarkable little statement in this issue of mortifying the flesh -

"Be killing sin or it will be killing you."

The apostle Paul said it this way in Romans 8:12-13:

12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh — 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

So then, let us wary of sin in our lives and be killing it. In the meantime, I will go to the church and spray the Lysol in order to kill the virus.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed