The things of this world are all just dirt - refined dirt maybe, but dirt just the same. It is dirt which is sometimes disguised as a pretty package. The package is always deceptive and the dirt is always just dirt.
The things of God though, the things of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, they are real. They endure forever. They are not just dirt, but they flow forth from and are part of the life that God has provided in Jesus Christ.
These times of the corona-virus are the strangest times that I have ever seen. People who are Christians need to pay attention to the things of God, and not pay attention to the things of this world. If you are a Christian, don't get sucked into the things of this world, the fear and the anxiety, the focus on something that ultimately is just dirt.
Look instead to God's Word and the things of the Spirit. Walk with Him in an intentional manner.
The first and foremost fruit of His Spirit is love. Love without fear. Love without reservation. Jesus said that the way that the world can correctly identify us as Christians is by our love for one another.
The world is telling us that we must, for now, live in semi-isolation. In this world, although we belong to our Heavenly Father, and are of the realm our Heavenly Lord, Scripture tells us to submit to the world's authorities, and it tells us to pray for them. So, pray for them and find ways to intentionally love in semi-isolation. Call one another. Write to one another. If need be run errands for one another. Be loving. Be intentionally taking up your own cross and following your Lord.
Also, avoid wasting a lot of time on the Internet, watching shows, listening to news, etc. Read God's Word. In your home read with those with whom you live. Read alone if necessary, but spend time reading and thinking about God's word. Ask questions of the text, and let the text supply the answers.
The world, and the devil, and the dirt part of you, want you to focus on the things of this world. They want to make your Christianity fruitless. Don't let them. Here is what the Apostle Paul wrote:
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. - Gal 5:16-24
Paul was speaking against an evil group that was trying to subvert the Christianity of the Gentile believers in Galatia, a region of Asia Minor. The trap was for these Gentile Christians to adopt Jewish religious and cultural practices. False teachers were trying to get these Christians to follow Jewish Law. Paul's warning was that if they placed themselves under the Law, their Christianity would be meaningless, Christ would be of no avail to them. Then, in this passage quoted above, he described what happens when people try to follow the Law, their flesh becomes aroused and they become fleshly. People who walk in the flesh, even who subject themselves to the Law, do not walk by the Spirit.
There are lots of lessons here, but one application for us today is to realize that it would be wrong and foolish, even evil of us, to try and walk by our flesh. So don't give in to your fleshly desires to be caught up in the corona-virus mania. Don't give in tho the temptations to waste this precious time. Do spend time in God's Word. Do find creative ways to love in your semi-isolation. Do walk by the Spirit!
For the rest of you, you who are not Christians:
Truly, consider this virus as a warning. God is calling attention to your mortality.
Use this time of opportunity wisely. Think about your fears. think about your own impending death. Read the New testament and learn what Jesus and the Bible tell us is going to happen to you when you die. It says, you will die, then you will be judged. Nothing that you do can keep you from being sentenced to an eternity in the Lake of Fire that we call Hell.
Yet, Jesus came to save sinners. So think on that. Once you realize that you are a sinner bound for Hell, the fact that Jesus came to save sinners should become very valuable knowledge to you. So read the New Testament and consider these things. If you get to the point where you realize both that you are a Hell bound sinner and that Jesus Christ came to save sinners, then consider these three things.
One, Jesus' message is this: Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
Two, His call is found in Mt. 11:28-30 Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
Three, As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.
Some of you might think that there is another way another religion, another practice that will get you through okay in eternity. Don't be fooled. All of them are the devil's lie. There is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ. He is the only Way the only Truth and the only Life. Nobody comes to the Father except through Him. Read the New Testament honestly and you will know it is true.
