Contagious

When I  was working at the Montessori school, a boy in the 3-year-old class came down with a stomach bug. Several kids and the teachers got the bug and just when we thought we were in the clear, his baby brother came to school 24 hours after getting the bug. Guess whose room the baby brother was in? 

Yep. That weekend Lydia and I both came down with the stomach bug. Poor Lydia just happened to be out of school that day and was helping in my room with the kids. My assistant also got sick that weekend and it wasn’t long before other kids in my room started coming down with it and then it spread into the baby room.

Isn’t it amazing how quickly we can pass around a sickness? I mean, Covid, right? Just be in the same space with someone and breath the wrong air at the wrong time and BAM! You’re sick.

What I find equally as amazing, if not more, is how contagious sin is.  

I love the Israelites. They are a messed-up bunch, wandering around in the wilderness, and they just can’t seem to get it. They are a lot like us sometimes, right? The thing with the Israelites is that they had been under the influence of the Egyptians for 400 years. They had been so immersed in the Egyptian culture that they thought like them, talked like them, and acted like them.

Fast forward, the Israelites are out in the wilderness, and Moses is annoyed with their constant complaining and bickering. They are moaning and wailing about not having any meat to eat. Moses goes to the Lord and says:

“Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people? They keep whining to me, saying, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I can’t carry all these people by myself! The load is far too heavy! If this is how you intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery!” (Numbers 11:13-15, NLT)

Wow, Moses. Really? He sounds a little bit like the Israelites complaining about having to eat manna every day. 

I mean I don’t really blame him. I’d probably be ticked at the people too. But we are talking about a man who witnessed miracles and was the extension of God’s hand in many instances. The parting of the red sea and bringing water out of a rock, just to name a few. 

So what’s his deal? Moses had spent too much time in the presence of the Israelites and not enough time in the presence of the Lord. He caught the bug from the Israelites. 

Sin is contagious just like a sickness. Have you ever spent time with some people who are cussing like sailors and before long you catch yourself slipping with a few choice words? Or maybe you can hold it together while you’re around them but you walk away and you find yourself having conversations in your head and you find yourself thinking some of the same things they said? 

It doesn’t take much to make us sick, physically or spiritually. Touch the wrong thing, be at the wrong place, around the wrong people and that’s all it takes.

Wellness, on the other hand, takes work. Eat right, exercise, get enough sleep, drink water, take your vitamins, get regular checkups, avoid allergens and toxins, and get enough sunshine. 

Spiritual wellness is not contagious. It’s personal and it takes dedication and intention. We can not catch wellness. 

God understands this and gives us the prescription for health and wellness:

“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do” 

(Psalms 1:1-3). 

This new spring season I pray that the Lord uncovers the schemes of the wicked, the sinners, and the mockers and He gives you the courage to walk away from their presence. I pray He leads you down paths of spiritual wellness, that you would delight in His word, and that you would bear much fruit for His glory.

You are his chosen one, holy and anointed priest.

Be Blessed This Day,

You are Loved!