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Going Beyond The Symptoms

Winter is a time when many people get sick and my body usually keeps the schedule open for at least one illness that will ultimately find me in the doctor’s office. The onset of a cold usually starts slow –sniffles, sneezing, coughs – and then moves down into my chest affecting my voice, my energy level, and worst of all - my mood.

Sin is much like a virus or infection. That is, there is a problem on the inside, but the symptoms only show up on the outside. A runny nose or cough are not the real problem, but they are symptoms we can treat by ourselves through home remedies, over-the-counter medicine and cough drops. But in order to get to the source of the illness we usually need a trip to the physician.

Over the past several months I have been in at least four conversations with people who describe their life before Christ in terms of “drinking and smoking.” One man based his “goodness” on having never done either. But these two items are only minor symptoms of a much larger problem, but sometimes people think that if they can treat these two small symptoms they are basically good. Nothing can be farther from the truth.

Jesus described the two greatest commands like this “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:34-40) So if these are the two greatest commands, then breaking them would be the two greatest sins. You see, the things that we think are bad (i.e. drinking and smoking) are very minor, but we focus on them because we can treat them ourselves. Loving God whole heartedly and loving our neighbor requires a trip to the physician – The Great Physician, because only he can replace the source of our sin illness – our evil heart.

So Let Us All Return To The Great Physician That We So Desperately Need,
Pastor Mitch

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