Do Not Let COVID-19 Dominate Our Lives

05 Jun Do Not Let COVID-19 Dominate Our Lives

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Preacher Huijun - 5 June 2021

Weekend Devotion: Do Not Let COVID-19 Dominate Our Lives

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Recently, we have been hearing the world telling us that we need to learn to live with COVID-19, as it does not seem to be going away fully anytime soon. So how does learning to live with the virus look like? In fact, before COVID-19, Christians have been learning to live with something else we do not welcome yet stick to us – our sinful nature.

Unwelcome presence in our lives – Sinful nature and COVID-19

To a certain extent, living with COVID-19 is similar to us having to live with our sinful nature. Though we may be saved and justified by our faith in Christ, as long as we still live on earth, our sinful nature is going to stick to us like an unwelcome virus. No matter how we dislike it, it just won’t go away for now. But like how we deal with the virus, we must rise above our sinful nature. We must be on our alert against it. Just as if we don’t resist COVID-19 and try to pre vent its spread, it mutates and spread more fiercely. Same thing for sin. When we ignore sin, it gains more foothold in our lives. The world conducts much testing for virus to contain it quick. Similarly, we have to examine our hearts regularly to see if any evil desire is being conceived, so that we can also purge it before it gives birth to sin (cf. Jas 1:15). And just as we were told to keep our distance from potential transmission sources, we also need to stay away from things that easily tempt us or trigger our sinful nature. Similar to how the virus can mutate, the cunning devil also changes his tactics whenever we can triumph over his previous tricks, so we must also be on the lookout for the devil’s new schemes.

Humans look to vaccines to make them safe against the virus. But we know that even those vaccinated can also get infected, and booster shots are required every now and then. In our fight against our sinful nature, God has given us the Holy Spirit, which is way more effective than man-made vaccine’s effectiveness toward virus. However, our sinful nature (old self) may act up from time to time and weaken our spiritual immunity against sins and temptations. This is not because the Holy Spirit is not powerful to help us, but we are prone to quench the Holy Spirit <1 Thes 5:19>. Thus, we need to get intimate with God every day, to draw new strength for our daily battle with our flesh. When we walk daily by the Spirit <Gal 5:16>, we know we can be safe even if we know sin and darkness are lurking around us.

As with our sinful nature, so it is with COVID-19, though they are present, they should not dominate our lives.

 One thing our Prime Minister said on Monday, which I agree, was that we should not let COVID-19 dominate our lives. Indeed, as Christians who believe in a God who is greater than all, we should be more than conquerors in Christ. And nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even coronavirus. So Covid should not dominate our lives, God must! Instead of revolving our lives around COVID-19, we have to centre our lives on God. Yes, the impact of COVID-19 is real, but the presence and power of God should impact us more than COVID-19. The virus cannot stop God from saving souls and strengthening the spirit of His people. It also cannot stop us from trusting Christ, living out the word of God, sharing love with others and shining His light in this dark time.

So the church should rise above COVID-19.

If even the world knows it should not be dominated by COVID-19, so all the more the church should not be at the mercy of COVID-19. A nation like Singapore, which is highly dependent on global trade and connections, knows that if it keeps giving in to the restrictions imposed by COVID-19, it won’t survive long with border closure and business-inhibiting measures. So they think of ways to get around it, by vaccination, testing, tracing and safety measures. Of course, human methods are not foolproof, but at least the spirit is not to be enslaved by COVID-19. If even a secular state has that kind of attitude, how about God-believing church?

Think about it, what happens if the church remains closed to in-person gatherings, even if authorities have allowed that but in much smaller numbers? More than one year into online and zoom church meetings, how has that affected believers? Even if suspension of in-person meetings for the sake of health safety may be needed for awhile, if COVID-19 is here to stay, can church continue with online meetings only? Humans are not made to worship God in isolation. Online worship, even if it is corporate, may lead to numbness of the spirit, because it is still somewhat like worshipping alone in one’s room.

Thus, the church may need to pray about encouraging members to resume in-person worship by faith, especially if the pandemic situation eases, and consider having more satellite meeting places, or more sessions of services, so as to facilitate in-person meetings in smaller numbers. More home visits may also have to be conducted to remain in touch with church members. Of course, with more meeting venues and timing, it would also mean more workers are needed. Thus, instead of a time to cut back, this could be a time to train and raise up more new workers of Christ to serve His people.

Actually, this is not the first time God asked His people to live with a situation which is not ideal in their eyes. For example, look at <Jeremiah 29> 4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.

No one likes to be in exile, but just as the Israelites were called to settle and grow in their place of exile, we also have to find a way to ‘settle down’ and come to terms with the situation set before us. As what our secular government said, the coronavirus is likely to remain with humankind and become endemic. If that is the case, then church cannot be contented with endlessly prolonging a supposed temporary way of worship, but have to find a way to resume the kind of Christian worship mentioned in the Bible, which involves physical meeting, as what <Heb 10:25> says, “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Whatever reasons it is for some to give up meeting, the Bible is clear that it is not good to have a ‘habit’ of not meeting.

Dear friends, are we prepared to let COVID-19 dominate our lives and direct our relationship with God? If it is here to stay for still a long time, then as children and church of God, we need to pray that God help us rise above it.