Mt. 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

I know the context of this is fear of people who will persecute Christians for preaching the gospel, but I cannot help but think of the application for today. How easy it is to fear a microscopic virus but ignore an infinite God. Many fear a few weeks of burning lungs and possible death from a virus but are unconcerned about an eternity burning in hell. We will shut down an entire economy to try to stop the spread of an illness but spend so little on spreading the gospel.

I was reading last night about a missionary in Africa who was asked to pray for a man’s daughter who was dying of smallpox. He prayed for healing and hoped God would show His power over sickness to the rest of the tribe who were relying on the spells of the medicine man. God did not heal the girl, and the missionary was very discouraged. A few days later the father of the girl came to him exuberant. Though God did not show His power by healing the girl, what was turning the village’s heart toward God was the joyful hope of the resurrection that the Christians displayed in the midst of tragedy.

Christians, we know the end of the story. We know the one whose eye is on the sparrow (Mt. 10:29-31). We confess Him (vs. 32) and recognize the weight of the curses of sin on this world were laid on Him. We also know that He defeated death and was declared to be the powerful Son of God by the resurrection from the dead. Let’s take this opportunity to point others to Christ, to repent of our own misplaced fears, and to call others to repent before the One whom they should fear.

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