Treatment for what ails you

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10).

Christianity is like a TV medical drama.

A medical drama introduces us to a seemingly endless stream of patients, all afflicted with some sort of medical problem. Some know they are sick and will do anything to be cured. Some are so busy pursuing their goals that they ignore even the most alarming symptoms until they find themselves at death’s door. Some don’t like doctors or are scared of hospitals and so put off treatment for far too long. And some who have been given sound medical advice ignore their treatments, soon ending up in worse shape than before. But they all have this in common: without the doctor’s healing touch, they will soon experience the chilling grasp of death.

Christianity tells a similar story. We are all infected by a plague, the disease called ‘sin.’ God would love to welcome us into His magnificent home, but not if we are carrying this plague. So the Lord offers us medical treatment through His Son, the Great Physician. If we let Jesus treat us, we can enter heaven cured of sin; however, if we refuse treatment, we will spend eternity quarantined in hell.

Why would anyone refuse treatment? Some are so busy with all the things going on in their lives that they don’t notice the symptoms of sin—dysfunctional relationships, constant pursuit of pleasure with no lasting satisfaction, self-destructive behaviors, and the like. If they are too busy to see that their lives are falling apart around them, then they will not make time for treatment by the Great Physician. Others refuse treatment because they don’t like Jesus or going to church; they resent anyone—even the Lord—who dares tell them hard truths that they don’t want to hear. And there are those who have listened to Jesus but then ignored His prescribed treatments; they are having too much fun living life as they see fit, to give up those things that are hastening their spiritual death.

Thankfully, not everyone reacts this way. There are many who fear eternal quarantine and desperately want to be freed from the illness that is killing them. These are the patients who will be healed; these are the ones who will have life, and have it to the full.