With all the infections that are spread these days, it’s easy to carry on day to day without realizing you’ve caught an infection until you yourself become contagious!
I just got over a severe eye infection I developed my last week in Vietnam – Praise the Lord that it healed within a week!. Now, I am dealing with a different kind of infection. I have developed a skin disease, one that I’ve had before but keeps recurring…cellulitis. I do not know why I have it or how I got it, but I do. It’s a part of me!
Most people don’t want a disease or infection. They don’t want to be sick. They run from it. It’s a bad thing. Yet, we as Christians have a “disease” that is not a bad thing. It’s something we want others to catch. Something that we want to spread…at least, that should be our attitude – a contagious one!
As I was sitting here at SHE, praying and getting ready to go out for our first night of ministry in Patong – walk the streets where the bars are, God spoke to me. He asked me if I was contagious?
Yes, disease and infections spread and are contagious. It leads me to ponder: As Christians, are we contagious? Are we causing people to turn heads and wonder what we have caught? Are we “infecting” the nations and people surrounding us, or are we keeping it to ourselves?
Just as attitudes are contagious, so is faith. Living a life of truth. People gravitate to what is real. They are looking for hope – and by being a contagious Christian, we can offer them the HOPE that nothing else can offer them!
It takes motivation to become a contagious Christian. Motivation that spreads from one person to the next. It’s not hidden. It’s proclaimed. What is holding you back from being contagious and catching the movement, getting out of quarantine – being isolated – and living the life God has called us to live – preaching His name, spreading the good news and loving Him, loving others and being a servant!? Why is it so hard to catch on to what we want yet do not have? Why do we let the good things slip away while we become infected with the negative – the lies, gossip, anger, hatred, jealousy and pride that spreads like wildfire. When are we going to quarantine THESE things and live out the truth, love, patience, kindness, mercy, compassion, grace and selflessness that make a difference.
