Our children are watching and by now the coronavirus is in most of their vocabularies.

My three year old and three year old niece were having their not so typical conversation the other day. At first they were fighting over sharing Pringles which was typical.  Then my son told my niece she had to share because we couldn’t go to the store to get him more because they would catch the coronavirus. Even at three this virus has entered his world.

My six year old was excited like I’ve never seen him before about playing his first soccer game of the season last weekend which of course ended up being cancelled.  Later conversations were about our church gathering being cancelled, his Bible study and his school. He’s been asking me some good, thought provoking questions. Today we sat down and just talked about how he was doing with all this.

I’m sure anyone reading this that has a child of school age has faced similar things.

So what can we tell our children?  Now my 3 year old is on a whole different level of thinking than my almost 7 year old but what they both needed to hear was the Gospel.

Mama reading its what you need to hear too.

We can tell our children:

1. God is good.
2. We live in a broken world where diseases like this coronavirus happen and other sad things.
3. There was a time when this wasn’t the case because the first two people God created lived in a beautiful garden and enjoyed Gods creation and spending time with God.
4. BUT this didn’t last. The people looked for goodness and joy in other places outside of God and turned away from him. This we know is called sin and sin separates us from God. This is why we see hard, sad things in our world. We all like the first two people have run away from God looking for joy in other things. On our own we could never run back to God because our sin.
5. However, God ran to us!!!! God came down to the earth not because we are good but because he is. Jesus came to seek and save the lost!!! We are all lost and Jesus came to save us! Jesus died on a cross taking the punishment that we all deserve but because he never sinned He rose from the dead.
6. Jesus is alive today and he is coming back to earth one day and is making all the bad things go away. There will be no more sad things or people getting sick. All the people who love Jesus will be with Him forever. People from every nation who love Jesus will be filled with Joy forever!

Friends its not a script we tell our children and each other. It’s the truth and truth is a person. Jesus says He is the way, the truth and the life! It’s ok when you can’t answer all your children’s questions. I can’t answer some of the ones that come out of my boys mouths but we can always point them to the TRUTH, who is Christ the Lord. You can lean hard on him during this time.

Since many are home looking for things to do with your little ones here are some amazing Easter resources and activities that you may enjoy doing together. https://www.risenmotherhood.com/easter

Grace and Peace in Christ,

Lane

 

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing you can make me clean. Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. I am willing he said, “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.”~Mark 1:40

A couple of days ago I wrote a post you can read here regarding the coronavirus. I would first read that post before you continue.

The last post looked at verse 41 and with this one let’s take a deeper look at verse 40. “A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing you can make me clean.” I love how beautiful and active God’s Word is. A couple of days ago I was so amazed at verse 41 that I read right over verse 40.

I think about this man who was suffering with leprosy. Unlike many diseases leprosy is one you can’t really hide because of the lumps and spots all over the skin and so his physical sickness was visible for all to see.  I’m amazed by this mans boldness in coming to Jesus. “He came to Jesus and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing you can make me clean.” This man was desperate for help. He knew he couldn’t make himself clean that he went so far as to get on his knees and beg Jesus.

I was just in this scripture with friends in my neighborhood and one friend pointed out the statement he said to Jesus, “If you are willing YOU CAN make me clean.” I think about the bold faith of this man who was an outcast. He came to Jesus in his sickness acknowledging he wasn’t clean knowing Jesus was the one he needed. The man probably was not expecting what Jesus did next in actually reaching out in compassion and physically touching him, a man with leprosy who no one would be near.

The picture of the man with the leprosy is really a picture of all of our hearts. Isaiah 64:6 reads, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” Read that again. We are all unclean. There is nothing the government can do to help. There is no doctor who can help or vaccine around the corner that will help. There is no good deed we can do for all our righteous acts are like filthy rags as we are all stained with sin. Sin works its ugly way way into every thing we do as we are stained by it.

BUT THERE IS GOOD NEWS.

There is one who is willing. The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world has come. Though our sins are like scarlet he washes the one who turns to him as white as snow.  Just like this man with leprosy we have to see that we ourselves are on the outside and our souls are sick. Isaiah 59:2 reads “Your iniquities have separated you from your God, your sins have hidden his face from you.”  We see Jesus did not turn the man away in his sickness he did the unthinkable he reached out and touched him with compassion. That is the same that he does for the sinner that repents and comes to him. Jesus provides purification for all sins. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. It’s this kindess of God that leads us to repentance.

So what is to be our response? In Luke 17 we read an account of where Jesus healed 10 people with leprosy. However, only one of them returned to him praising him with thanksgiving. We see here this is the only right response. It’s a response of thanksgiving and praise for all of our days for all eternity to the Lord of Lords and King of Kings who with his blood reconciled a people from every tribe and language and people and nation.

May God use CVOID-19 to open the hearts of many nations that hope can not be found in wealth, health, government, our works etc. Hope is available though. Hope is not a thing you do but a person you come too. He has a name, Jesus Christ and He is willing to cleanse the soul of the one who calls upon his name.

“Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands , you sinners and purify your hearts, you double minded.” James 4:8

 

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean. Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be Clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. Mark 1:40-42

Along with many of you, Matt and I  keep watching news updates on the coronavirus. Currently if people have even been near where the coronavirus is they are asked to self quarantine. Healthcare workers have to dress head to toe in infectious disease gear. People are fearful about this disease. People are hurting. People are dying.

As I see videos and images of healthcare workers with their isolation gear on and patients being isolated I keep thinking about the above scripture where Jesus had an encounter with a man with leprosy. In particular I keep thinking about verse 41. “Jesus was indignant. He reached out and touched the man.” Jesus being full of compassion for this man did the UNTHINKABLE. He reached out and touched the man. The man was in isolation and sick.

Here we see a glimpse at so much about Jesus. Jesus has authority over every cell in our body. Jesus has compassion for the sick. Jesus meets the heart needs. Imagine a man who society outcasts and isolates and Jesus reaches out and touches him. Imagine the greater heart need of loneliness that Jesus met here!

Let me flip this now. Imagine someone willingly reaching out and touching someone with the coronavirus and doing so while not wearing protective medical gear and then not running and washing their hands afterwards. No, one would do such a thing willingly. We know that we may indeed catch the virus ourself and spread it to others if we were to do that.  I am all about the hand sanitizer and elbow bumps right now! People wash your hands!

Stay with me. Let’s take this further. Imagine someone not just touching someone with the coronavirus, imagine someone actually stepping in and touching death for someone else in their place. This someone has a name and His name is Jesus. Jesus, the eternal Son of God who has always existed with the Father in glory, came down to His creation and put on skin becoming fully man so he could touch death for all. He walked in skin going through everything that you and I do. His body was subject to weakness just like our bodies are in every way. He was tempted by the enemy in every way that you and I are but Jesus was without any sin. Let these words from Hebrews chapter 2 sink in.

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death-that is, the devil and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”

Here we see Jesus had to touch our human nature so he could die to make atonement for sin for without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Jesus did the unthinkable.

Currently the death rate they are saying for those with the coronavirus is somewhere around 3%. There are many unknowns about this disease still so they aren’t sure yet what it really is and it has us all in a panic! However, there is a death rate that we do know the percentage rate of and that is the death rate of being a human being. It is at 100% right now. We all know that there is nothing that we can do to outrun death. We can try but  at some point death takes us all.

BUT. THERE IS HOPE. HIS NAME IS JESUS. Jesus put on a body sharing in our humanity so he could touch death and He defeated it. Death has been swallowed up in victory and has no sting. This Easter season and everyday look to Jesus Christ the Risen Lord and King.  Jesus came for the sick sinner and has made the way for all to be healed from every tribe, nation, and tongue.  For one to be healed though they have to hear about the cure to death and turn to Him for help!

I’ll end with the words of Jesus:

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26