"Use The Hand Sanitizer!" (1 Corinthians 10:13)

I am very paranoid about getting sick. My preventive medicine is to place large bottles of hand sanitizers, throughout the office. Most bacteria and viruses are easily transmitted between persons by touching and handling contaminated objects-door handles, light switches, tables and chairs, that have been touched by the infected person. Using these preventive measures, I have greatly reduced the risk of getting sick if a fellow co-worker is afflicted. “Use the hand sanitizer!” is the plaintive cry that goes out to anyone who is sick in the office.

And yet, I still get sick. There are always other portals for the germs to enter. The couriers who deliver our cases, the postal workers, the delivery person with packages...all of these are potential sources of germs. I attempt to control and eliminate the germs within my immediate surroundings, but I cannot control what enters from the outside.

Sin is like this. I seek to control my immediate environment, making a convent with my eyes, as Job declared (Job 31:1), and checking my thoughts and speech.  I can be careful about the internet sites I visit, the television programs I watch, and the literature I read. But sin still creeps in unexpectedly and insidiously into my life. It may be through a casual encounter with a rude cashier at a market, a furtive glance at a sexy billboard, or an internet banner ad flashing an exciting bargain, taking my attention from my work.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV)

What hope is there for me? Like the cold germs, I cannot control all the possible avenues of exposure. I cannot avoid it. All I can do is turn to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He was tempted in all ways but never succumbed to sin. If I place my trust in Him, He is faithful to protect me. And if I do fail, His mercy and grace allow me to come before Him and confess my sins and receive forgiveness.

Using the hand sanitizer does not always protect me. Thanks be to God that He always does!

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.