Sick Day

I woke up at 2:30am last night and knew it was my turn to face this hideous monster. I made my way quickly down the stairs of our home and walked into the kitchen. Behind the cabinet doors above the stove was my only hope of defeating this monstrosity. As I pulled the door open, my trembling hands reached for…medicine. Since last Wednesday, a virus had been making it’s way through our family claiming victim after victim. First, my daughter awoke with those fateful words – “I think I’m going to puke!” A day later, our son woke up and said he was sick. We often refer to him as the “little boy who cries wolf” because he is known for saying he is sick when he really is not, so we went through a series of questions to try to catch him in a lie. After a careful cross examination by my wife, we decided that he really was sick. Ty was the second victim of this ugly monster. My wife was the next in this creature’s rampage and I was soon to follow. Today I had to take a sick day at work and I hate doing so because I’ve always had a tough time laying around doing nothing. My body ached all over and a sore throat gave way to coughing…I figured the people at work would not appreciate me endangering them, so in better judgment, I stayed home. While doing nothing, a verse in Mark 2:17 came to my mind where Jesus talks about sickness and doctors. “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Jesus had often been criticized by so-called religious people because He frequently spent time with people who were sinners. Jesus sometimes kept company with those who didn’t have it all figured out and were looked upon as outcasts because of their lifestyle; however, Jesus knew they needed to have a relationship with God the Father through Him. Without personal contact, these sinners had no chance of changing. Jesus evidenced His unconditional love for them, but also was not scared to point out their sin. The religious leaders of the day hated that Jesus invested time in these sinful people, but Jesus responded to their arrogance by speaking the words we find written in Mark 2:17. Jesus did not come to provide life to those who thought they could attain salvation by their own good works (they that are whole have no need of the physician), but rather those who willingly admitted they were sick. A doctor cannot help anyone who will not first admit their sickness, just like Jesus cannot cure the disease of sin for those who do not think they are a sinner. Jesus goes on to say to the “religious crowd”: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Those who willingly admit their sin and realize it offends a holy God (repentance) have taken the first step in getting well. The writer of Proverbs says “he that covereth his sin shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh shall have mercy.” The religious leaders of Jesus’ day could never be made right before God until they were ready to acknowledge their sin. Salvation from spiritual death (hell) does not come through simply believing in God, but rather those “who confess with thy [their] mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe that God hath raised Him from the dead shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9) Are you sick today? I don’t mean physically sick, but spiritually sick. When you recognize you are a sinner, you are ready to be spiritually healed by the great Physician, Jesus Christ. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities…with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) Jesus took the punishment for your sin (healed you) when he died on the cross, so you did not have to die and spend an eternity paying for your sin in hell. Will you come to the Physician to be healed?