Healthy or Sick

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:36-37 NIV)

I recently spent a few days in the hospital. I won’t bore you with the story, except to say this: I had a brief incident that signaled a potentially bigger problem, so I went to the emergency room and was then admitted to the hospital for observation and a procedure.

The odd thing about my stay is that the reason for which I went in never repeated itself. The original incident was over in 20 minutes and I felt fine. So, while other people were lying in their hospital beds with pain or weakness, I was up and walking the halls from boredom.

It’s odd to be a well person in a hospital. I just didn’t feel like I belonged there. I wanted to just go home. But the observation and procedures are important, so there I stayed.

I could have checked myself out and gone home without them doing anything to me. If I had, then I would have gone through my everyday life believing I was healthy because I felt fine. However, the time bomb ticking inside of me would have eventually manifested itself and sent me back to the hospital, probably in much worse shape than this time. Because, no matter how I felt at the time, I was not well underneath the surface.

I relate this experience to people, not only in the world, but also in the church, who go about their daily lives believing that everything is okay. They have no drama or crises happening at the forefront of their lives. The world is not crashing down around them. Though life may not be great, they’re getting along seemingly fine.

Yet, unbeknownst to them, sin has quietly wrapped it’s claws around them.