Writer：阿草
Image Source：Google / Freepik
“Of what are you most afraid?”
Loss, regret, disappointment…? The 2020 novel coronavirus has swept across the globe. I reckon the question on many people’s minds is this: fear of being infected. This disease is currently without cure, highly infectious, and if one has been identified as a carrier, one must immediately be isolated. People fear the virus, not just because catching it means separation from their family, but because catching it might mean no longer seeing them.
Death is what we should fear.
We live in a generation which is “entertaining ourselves to death.” No matter how many raise glasses in celebration of the empty motto “live for the present! Living is all about enjoying,” “Death” is still a mysterious black-robed being who dogs our every step. He watches every move we make and schemes against us in the darkness.
People fear death, we fear facing him one day. To numb ourselves against the spectre of death, humanity chooses entertainment, the pursuit of success and the accumulation of happiness. It’s as though our hard-fought achievements and moments of happiness builds itself into a wall which hides us from the terrifying face of oblivion.
Ironically, death has long been living in humanity’s hearts. Without hope in a resurrection, every passing day sees us paving a road that eventually leads to death.
But you, who have been saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ to be sons and daughters, have been reconciled to God through Jesus’ mediation. You have hope in the resurrection life, and as you face the gloom that the novel coronavirus has cast, have you shared this resurrection hope to your friends and family? During this Movement Control Order period, have you heard your friends’ fears and anxieties?
Besides face masks and food, your friends and family need to hear the gospel and its message of resurrection hope. There is no real hope without the gospel. One might be safe from this virus thanks to face masks, but one way or another, death will come knocking.
Jesus once said “… Or those eighteen that the tower in Siloam fell on and killed — do you think they were more sinful than all the other people who live in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well.” (Luke 13:4-5)
From today, whenever you are speaking with your friends on the phone or on social media, don’t just talk about how boring it is staying at home; spend time to share with them the good news of Jesus’ death. That way, we can give them the solution to our own mortality and our only hope of eternal life!