“I am the light”
“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:5)
Talk about healing, and today we need it badly in the Ebola-stricken West Africa especially in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. All the three are already poor countries, but the Ebola outbreak could make them even poorer. Sierra Leone and Liberia have both emerged from horrific civil wars and managed to rebuild their economies, but are now facing a reversal. About 3,000 people are reported to have died while many remain infected. Two eastern districts of Sierra Leone have been isolated since the beginning of August and the extension of the indefinite quarantine means more than a third of her 6.1 million population are now unable to move freely.
Devastating effects on the economy are expected as farms are being abandoned by people running away from the epicentres of the outbreak and going to areas that don't have the disease. Steelmakers and miners have also been hit by the outbreak. Some mining contractors declared “force majeure” and evacuated international members of staff and put the rest of the workforce in the area on leave. Pray for the healing of these nations!
I was fascinated by another need for healing, this time in France, where smoking is the main cause of death, with tens of thousands of people dying each year of tobacco-related illnesses. One commentator lamented, “We can't accept that tobacco kills 73,000 people every year in our country - the equivalent of a plane crash every day with 200 people on board.” And such lifestyle vices are growing fastest among young people!
In today’s declaration, Jesus has good news for the most sophisticated suffering cases. The man that was born blind had been the subject of debate for a long time, and when the disciples took opportunity to ask their Rabbi, He declared, “I am the light…” and a miraculous healing was confirmation. He is our only hope. Check if you are taking your life lightly or carelessly in deadly lifestyle vices like smoking, drinking, sexual immorality, reckless entertainment which is infested with witchcraft these days. This is darkness that can only be expelled by the Lord Jesus. But even for those suffering from tough diseases around us and in our hospitals, there is hope when we look to the giver of life, the Healer, Jesus Christ who still declares, “I am the light of the world”.
God bless you all!