MISBEGOTTEN PHOBIA
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Hebrews [ESV] chapter 9 … Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are
copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the
high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then
he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But
as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once,
and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the
sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those
who are eagerly waiting for him.
There are
countless ways to die. Some are unnecessarily disproportionately feared more
than others. From Ask.com: In 2000,
the World Health Organization reported that in the USA population of
281,000,000 people (Census data), there were only 54 deaths attributable to bee
stings, 15,517 murders (FBI crime figures) - there is a greater chance you'll
be murdered by a fellow human, than die from being stung by a bee! More than
20,000 people in the USA die from flu every year (U.S. Centers for Disease
Control) Even lightening kills more people than bee stings! On average, 90
people are killed every year in the U.S. by lightning. [NOAA Technical
Memorandum NWS SR-193] Then there are all those sharks waiting to dine on you
and me if we dare enter saltwater above our ankles. (Average about 6-10
worldwide reported annually.)
One of my
favorite cartoons is of 2 women standing by a new tombstone, the one stating “I
don’t understand it. He was gluten-free all his life!”
Certainly we are
to exercise reasonable caution toward maintenance of physical well-being, and
in doing so based in God’s peace not phobia.
“fear not” is in
62 KJV verses. As I’ve read them I’ve especially noted the ones with the
underlying message of It’s not all about
you. There’s something much bigger going on. (Mt.10:28; Lk.1:30; 12:7-32; Acts
27:24; rev.1:17-18)
Ours is not to
fear death or life, but to occupy! (Lk.19:11-27)
EBB4
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