Though we are on our 25th day of lockdown, we are permitted to do essential grocery shopping. So this afternoon I ventured out to the Carrefour store, with the determination to get one of my flimsy masks on my face without breaking the band. We have been instructed that the masks help us to not spread the virus if we have it, nor take in the virus if others are expelling it. Anyway, I was successful, on the second try, and as I approached the line of socially distant customers waiting to enter the store, I immediately felt part of the “wise ones” in the crowd. Not everybody was wearing a mask, but many were. Mine was definitely on the bottom end of the quality spectrum, but I didn’t mind, since the previous week I had only taken one, and it had snapped immediately. I did make a discovery early on though, when while waiting in line I decided to do some texting on my phone. The face recognition feature did not like my mask and refused to open the phone, so I had to manually put in the code. Unfortunately, at the end of my shopping adventure, when I went to pay on the wireless console, I automatically moved my mask out of the way to pay with the phone, and the band snapped. Goodbye mask. But at least I was able to pay the bill.
As believers in Christ, we have also been given a very special kind of two way mask. It is the divinely created, spiritual and invisible, very effective filter of the Word of God. It also protects in both directions, if we use it. It helps us regulate our speech, so that every word that leaves our mouth is filled with grace and truth, which is very important in these times of special tension. But it also protects us from the incoming danger of the human opinions that float around us by the hundreds. These verbal viruses come in many forms and compositions, and can be very hard to detect on our own. Who is to know which come out of ignorance, which are biased, which are downright deceitful, and which are generally good?
If we learn to apply the Scripture filter properly, asking God for wisdom and discretion, He will give it to us. We can also trust Him to protect us in situations in which we find ourselves completely befuddled.
How important to not minimize the value of attending to God’s Word, either because we think it has no relevance for today’s issues or ignoring it in spiritual laziness. Perhaps more than ever, these are days in which refusing to wear the Lord’s mask will render us vulnerable, exposing us to spiritual diseases that will surely weaken both our faith and our testimony.
Psalm 119:16
As believers in Christ, we have also been given a very special kind of two way mask. It is the divinely created, spiritual and invisible, very effective filter of the Word of God. It also protects in both directions, if we use it. It helps us regulate our speech, so that every word that leaves our mouth is filled with grace and truth, which is very important in these times of special tension. But it also protects us from the incoming danger of the human opinions that float around us by the hundreds. These verbal viruses come in many forms and compositions, and can be very hard to detect on our own. Who is to know which come out of ignorance, which are biased, which are downright deceitful, and which are generally good?
If we learn to apply the Scripture filter properly, asking God for wisdom and discretion, He will give it to us. We can also trust Him to protect us in situations in which we find ourselves completely befuddled.
How important to not minimize the value of attending to God’s Word, either because we think it has no relevance for today’s issues or ignoring it in spiritual laziness. Perhaps more than ever, these are days in which refusing to wear the Lord’s mask will render us vulnerable, exposing us to spiritual diseases that will surely weaken both our faith and our testimony.
Psalm 119:16
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