Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
HEALING AND DELIVERANCE
“When human
beings began to increase in number on the earth…The Lord saw how great the
wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination
of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord
regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply
troubled.” - Genesis 6:1,5-6
Cancer is the second leading cause of
death in the United States, and it kills millions of people each year around
the world. Cancer causes its harmful effects in primarily two ways.
Firstly, a cancer cell grows uncontrollably and does not live in harmony with
non-cancerous cells. Cancer cells multiply in number, and if not stopped
will spread to other parts of the body. These cancer cells, to sustain
its growth, will divert blood vessels and nutrients meant for healthy cells to
itself. Eventually, if not stopped, these cancer cells create a burden
on the body and kills the healthy cells in the body. The second reason
cancer is harmful is that a cancerous cell no longer performs its intended
function or purpose. Every cell in our body has a function, for example a
cell in our pancreas produces normal levels of hormones like
insulin. A cancer cell in the pancreas may produce too much
hormones, or none at all. Certain bone cancers hurt one’s immunity
because the body can no longer produces an adequate number of functioning
immune cells. By not performing its intended function, cancer harms the
body. In certain cases, such as a bone marrow transplant, a person’s
cancerous bone marrow cells are destroyed by chemotherapy and replaced by bone
marrow cells of a healthy donor, which eventually multiply and gives the person
a chance to live.
In Genesis 6, we see a “cancer” affecting
the world. “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of
violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on
earth had corrupted their ways. (v.11-12)” The people on the earth did
not live in harmony with each other yet nor did they perform their intended
function as the children of God. The world was full of evil, and so God,
just like in a bone marrow transplant, destroy every human being except Noah,
who was righteous in God’s sight, and his family, whom God decided would help
resettle the world.
In many ways, our world today is suffering
from the same cancer that we see in Genesis 6. We see a world, where
there is such an emphasis on money, beauty, and power. We see how people
will resort to evil and corrupt ways to attain such things. Are we living
in harmony with others? Do we care and truly all those around us, or do
we only care and love ourselves? I remember a song that was popular in the
90’s that said the key to life is “money, power, and respect.” This is
the message that is unfortunately being spread throughout the world, and we
often hear of stories each and everyday of how certain people will go to great
lengths and evil to achieve it. We need to know let others know
that the true key to life is not these things, but the Lord Jesus Christ..
Jesus gave us two commandments in Matthew
22, which was to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and mind and secondly to love your neighbor as yourself. By
following these two commandments, we, as God’s people, can help stop the evil
and wickedness that is slowly killing our world. We have to show the
world that the key to life is love and Christ. We must not be part of the
cancer affecting the world, but be part of the cure for it!
Prayer: “Almighty Lord, we ask that
you strength us to overcome the evil and wickedness we face in today’s world,
and that you use us to transform the world to reflect your glory and love.
Amen.”
Thought of the Day: “Being a Cure
for the World”
Abe
Tharakan, St Andrews MTC, NY