August is here and the sound of a bat cracking as a Cardinal baseball player hits a home run is now once again heard from Busch Stadium. At least that is what we are told. The players have returned but the fans are not permitted inside the stadium. It reminds me of the old sage’s question…. if a tree falls in a forest and nobody is there to hear it does it make a sound? To which I say when it comes to a Cardinal player hitting a home run with nobody in the stadium does it make a sound? And the answer is a big YES! They also shoot these loud sounding fireworks when somebody hits a home run from our team which can be heard from our condo blocks away. Baseball is back!
Even though baseball is back it is different. My daughter is a principal at a public school here and they are still wrestling with how it will look like come fall for their students, teachers and parents. This virus has changed our way of living. Now masks are required just to go inside a gas station to pay for your gas. It amazes me how this virus being as contagious as it is has motivated us around the world to protect ourselves from getting it. Not to mention how deadly the virus can be, having killed thousands around the world. If we the church would have the same zeal to protect us from sinning as we do from protecting ourselves from the Covid19 virus, the church would look quite different than what she does. If we would fear sin as much as we do the Covid19 virus, we would provide defenses against letting sin into our lives. Today I wash my hands so much that sometimes I feel like I could have been a surgeon, well at least for the clean hands part. As clean hands protect against Covid19, so does a clean heart protect us from sin. As I leave the house to go to work I make sure I am wearing a mask to once again protect myself from the virus. Why then would I leave without putting on the whole amour of God to protect me from sinning and the attacks of the enemy? Covid19 is a new virus and soon they will have a vaccine for it, but even when the vaccine is produced, the choice to receive it will still be ours. Just like Jesus is our vaccine or answer for our sin “virus”. Those who receive him as their Lord and Savior are saved and those who refuse are still dead in their sins. On my way to the church I pass a line of cars waiting at a test site for people who want to get tested to see if they have the virus or not. It usually takes two weeks to find out. When it comes to the sin “virus” no test needed. We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The only answer is to repent and receive Jesus into your hearts. As we wait for the vaccine for Covid19 why not go ahead and receive Jesus now for the sin virus that is in the world? I read that after they find the vaccine for the Covid19 virus they will still not be able to eradicate it from our world. It will always be with us, sounds a lot like the sin problem we face every day. I encourage you that as you leave your house today not only put on your mask, but also spend time in His word and put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the whiles of the enemy.
Wearing my mask and my armor, Pastor Rick