I caught a "bug" just over a week ago, the kind that everyone gets from time to time. I was around plenty of sick people so it was bound to happen sooner or later. It's not that I think somehow I'm immune to these critters, but when the choice is risk a bug and spend time with other Christians or stay home and be safe... I choose Christians! Besides, it being Jessica's birthday and all (that's where I think the bug came from to start with) I was doubly determined not to be missing that!

In any case, the thing was sloooow coming on. First that persistent stuffy nose, then flashes of a headache that never quite came about. Lots of stiffness in the joints/back and soreness. Loss of appetite (hmmm, maybe I should be sick more often...) and a kind of sick to my stomach feeling when 1 did indeed eat, even though I tried to stick to blandish meals. Overall tiredness and crankiness, but sleep was not all that refreshing. Lightheaded and dizzy. To spare you all, let me just say it went downhill from there.

In spite of all that going on, I kept right on going with my life. I hung a little drywall, spent time with my wife and son, and wrote a couple bulletins. I had some important testing to do at work, and was asked nicely to make some video games. In other words, I kept right on chugging along even though I wasn't quite myself.

The bug is such a small thing, really. If you could have gotten a syringe and extracted it out of my body, you would have seen it's just a few ml's of stuff, hardly anything at all compared to the 300 gorilla pounds that make up the rest of Randy. But what an effect it has! Digestive system out of whack. Nervous system going honkers. Who knows what else it threw out of kilter as it rampaged through my body!

Sin can be just like that. Don't think so? How about a guy named Achan. One man out of an army of thousands, who took a little bit of spoils from Jericho. One man with one sin. Because of that, good men died and the thousands were defeated by the small army of a small city. David was a great king, but had lust in his heart for another man's wife. One sin by one man and the consequences lead to more sin, again the death of some good men, and a lifetime of unrest for all the people. Haman was promoted over all else in the kingdom he lived in, and at times had the respect of all men, except Mordecai. One of his obvious sins, pride, led him to get a law passed that was meant to destroy the Jews like lambs at a slaughter.

The church is a body, and sin can "sicken" it too. The sin of one can bring reproach on all of us. Even those who call themselves similar things - Christians - yet are very fast and loose with the gospel cause people I know to asked "aren't you one of those?" No one is perfect, but it seems especially sad if someone we hold in high regard falls to temptation. It brings on discouragement and grief to ALL the members, so whenever you might think of giving in to sin and think it won't really be a problem for anyone but yourself, think again! Sin can make our "body" slow moving, unable to work effectively, stuffed up and sluggish instead of being vibrant, zealous, active. Those who need encouragement don't get it, end instead of all us folks working together in harmony we may become factious, fragmented, much less effective. Ultimately, like I have unfortunately seen in cases of questions around divorce/remarriage, we may take a new stance on the matter contrary to scripture because we want to make exception for the person involved. Oh no! I am aware of a whole church that did this to accommodate one member's sin... in other words, for the sin of one all could be last. If you lost your foot, does that mean your whole life must be forfeit? If you arm was chopped off, you can no longer see, hear, or walk? It's no less silly than giving up everything in the life after to make this life better somehow.

What's a person to do? Well, for starters we should drink orange juice and take vitamins. Just as we members should study and involve ourselves in Godly things. This makes us resist catching most bugs that come our way. Also, drink lots of fluids. In other words, understand what's happening when we become sick and counteract it, to flush it away all the faster. As a church, lessons that deal directly with the sin involved (instead of pretending it never happened or trying to "compromise") end any confusion surrounding it and help us make good decisions. Yes, we will get sick from time to time. That doesn't mean it has to be fatal!!!

Randy