Fear - we sure have a lot of it these days.

Fear. I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately. I’ve been feeling it too. After all, you can’t live mere miles away from the destruction in Minneapolis this summer and not feel it. As COVID-19 continues to drag on while protests keep going across the country (I feel bad for those who live in Portland), I’m starting to wonder what exactly is the root cause of this anger we see in America? I’m pretty sure at least some of it is fear.

We seem to be afraid of COVID-19. How could the average American not be afraid, thanks in part to the ridiculous 24-hour news cycle that talks nothing but COVID, disaster, COVID, protest, COVID, destruction, and on and on and on? It never stops. The truth is we’re all going to get exposed to COVID-19 at one point. Please remember, 99.5 percent of you who get COVID are NOT going to die from it.

COVID-19 has us all on the run. (Photo from NHPR.com)

If you don’t believe me, check out the CDC website and do the math. Don’t trade your liberty for “safety.” Nothing is safe in this world.

But maybe that’s where the fear comes from? After all, we’re all going to die at some point, and we don’t know when that day will come. I learned that earlier than most people do because I was born with a congenital heart defect. I had spells of irregular heartbeats that absolutely could have killed me at any time.

In fact, it got so bad that during one of my spells that the bottom half of my heart was beating 600 beats a minute and the top half was 250-300 a minute. That just sounds scary, doesn’t it? Blood clots form easily in those situations and if one happens to get to your brain, that’s it. I’m done. You wanna talk about a fear of death? Try living with that fear minute-by-minute and seven days a week.

Has COVID-19 got you thinking about your mortality? What happens if you die tomorrow? Would you end up in Heaven or Hell? How do you know?

“I’m a good person,” you might say. “I’m not as bad as my neighbor who drinks too much and abuses his family.” You might think to yourself, “I’m better off than the deadbeat from across the street.” Well, I’ve got some bad news; you aren’t.

Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory that God intended.” In other words, we will never be able to measure up to God’s holy standard of perfection necessary to get into Heaven. We are all sinful people. If you don’t believe me, just read the news headlines.

That’s the bad news. The Good News is a fellow named Jesus who came to Earth to help us out with that. You see, God has to punish sin. Isaiah 5:16 says, “But the Lord of Hosts is exalted by His justice, and the Holy God is distinguished by righteousness.” He’s holy after all and cannot tolerate sin.

Jesus took our punishment for us because we couldn’t do it ourselves. I’d call that the purest form of love, wouldn’t you? Isaiah 53:5 says, “He was pierced because of our transgressions (sinful behavior), crushed because of our weaknesses; the punishment that bought us our peace with God was upon Him. We are healed by His (Jesus’s) wounds.” What that means is He took the spot on the Cross that belonged to us, so that God could uphold his righteousness and punish sin. All that sin was put on the shoulders of Jesus. And believe me, Jesus was punished.

It IS possible to know you get to take the door on the left. You DON'T want the door on the right.

What does He want in return? Your faith and trust. He wants you to trust Him as your Lord and Savior. Galatians 3:26 sums It up this way; “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” What does that mean to this discussion?

1 John 5:11 will answer the question. “And this is the testimony, that God has given us eternal life, and that life is in His Son, Jesus.” Faith in Jesus will give you the assurance you need to answer the question, “What happens to me when I die?”

There is no way I can live this life without Jesus. He’s brought me through some hard times in this world, and He wants to do the same for you. The fact that I’m here sharing this message with you is a miracle in and of itself. He brought new meaning to my life that I didn’t know was possible, and He wants to do the same for you.

Please look into Jesus. He promises that when people seek Him with all their heart, they WILL find Him. Time is growing short to decide to follow Christ. Keep in mind, not making the decision is the same as a “no” decision. Your eternal future is at stake. He loved you enough to die for your redemption. Why not live for Him in return?

I want God to see Jesus covering me instead of my sins standing alone before Him. How about you?