Be saved not just safe

• Matt's Musings

The government’s number one priority is to stop people dying of COVID. As a local church in Deeside, we pray for the government and support them as citizens in being ‘COVID safe’. But (and it’s a big but!) as important as COVID is, our number one priority as a church isn’t to stop people dying of COVD. Rather, it is to offer people life in Jesus’ name. As a friend recently said to me, “our message isn’t ‘be safe’, but ‘be saved’!

A man once came to see Jesus, desperate because his son was dying. He begged Jesus to come with him quickly and heal the boy before he died. Jesus spoke to the man to make him see that he could do far more than simply stop his son from dying. Jesus could have just healed the man’s son which would have been kind and wonderful, but there’s more to life than that. If the son had lived for another 30 or 40 years, then died without ever having true life and faced eternity without Jesus, that would have been a great tragedy.

So Jesus did something better. He said to this desperate father, “You may go. Your son will live.” What did the dad do? Did he carry on pleading with Jesus, “please come with me and heal my dear son”? No! He took Jesus at his word and left. In doing so, he was showing his faith in Jesus. The man believed and so did his whole household. The son wasn’t just kept safe for a while. His whole family were saved for all eternity.

That’s what Jesus does. He’s much bigger than COVID, Spanish Flu and the Bubonic Plague. He’s bigger than earthquakes and famines. He’s bigger than war. Through his life, death and resurrection, he has conquered death. His voice speaks words of life today. He gives forgiveness of sin, new life, purpose, peace and hope. He is a solid hope that will not disappoint and enables us to rejoice even in our sufferings! Will you hear the voice of Jesus and live?