‘Jesus said to her, ‘everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give them will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ John4: 13, 14.
I am keeping to a theme of items in the news for this week’s reflections, and so the tesing for Covid19 just has to be included.
So, if, or when, you are tested, what outcome would you prefer?
You have some symptoms and you test positive: that is scary. Maybe you can’t trace where you picked it up, or when, so it is a matter of waiting to see how your body copes with this alien. The possibility of an admission to hospital becomes very real, and the unthinkable, death, once remote, enters your consciousness.
Let’s consider negative: well, you don’t have it, you haven’t had it, so you are clear – fabulous! Until you go on duty again, or go shopping, or when your partner returns from work, or you handle goods that have been delivered. Short-term relief only there, so maybe you will need to be tested again…. and again.
How about your test reveals that you have had it, you have antibodies – and you never knew you had been infected! That, my friends, is the result I would want. The ability to go about as normal again, without that lurking fear, and not having had to go through the trauma of been ill. Freedom, so let’s party!
This ‘new normal’ of living with Coronavirus is likely to go on into next year, until mass vaccination is achieved, or we have that much talked-of herd immunity. Inevitably, I can draw parallels here with salvation. The woman at the well was doing the daily chore of fetching water, self-isolating too but for a different reason, and it was tedious. Her reply to Jesus’ statement was immediate: ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water’.
We all now can identify far better with the desire for that freedom – and appreciate that when we make a commitment to Christ , we have partaken of that water, we have that freedom, and at no cost to ourselves. Jesus bore our suffering, and died our death. This is our hope, our trust, our courage, our inspiration, to live as we have never lived before.
You test positive: God is beside you, will strengthen you, and you do not face illness and death alone. You test negative: God has protected you, carry on, he’s at you side. You have antibodies: your freedom is a call to go out and share, for your story is very good news indeed!
Go in peace, to love and to serve the Lord. In the name of Christ, amen.