The Ebola virus has everyone scared these days. Just what is it? Is there a cure? How do we stop it? As Dallas, TX becomes a city on edge, people everywhere want to know: How does it really spread?
Up until now, health officials have said that Ebola spreads through physical contact or bodily fluids only. But many health workers and scientists are now saying that those statements might have been premature. Ebola might travel through the air too!
For example, recently, Tribune News Service quoted Dr. C.J. Peters (who “led the CDC’s most far-reaching study of Ebola’s transmission in humans”) as saying that there is a possibility that Ebola spreads through air. “We just don’t have the data to exclude it,” said Peters. Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the CDC in Atlanta, agrees that the spread through coughing or sneezing can’t be ruled out.
The bottom line is: the disease might spread more easily than we knew. This happens all the time though. Scientists think they know how a disease spreads and then find out it is worse than they thought. Perhaps it happens in the church too. Are you aware that you might have been exposed to a far deadlier disease?
The Bible warned us a long time ago about a far more deadly disease that spreads easily through entire cultures. It began all the way back in Genesis. God told Adam & Eve, “You shall surely die,” but Satan said, “You shall surely not die” (Genesis 2:17; 3:4). The disease is sin, and it is the cause of our physical and spiritual deaths (Romans 6:23).
For far too long, people have felt immune because God has not caused physical, immediate death like an Ebola virus does. But as Peter reminded us, God is not slow in bringing punishment, but is patient, wanting us to repent of our sins (2 Peter 3:9).
Sin is a deadly disease. And it spreads more easily that you thought. Have you been exposed to the virus? Are you infected? Did you think you were immune? There is only one cure for sin: the forgiving blood of Jesus. Come to know Him today. Jesus gives us victory over sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:57)!
