Pastor's Corner - September 2011
On August 16, Debbie's sister Gayle was getting her classroom ready for the beginning of school when she felt something bite her on her right thigh. Gayle immediately swatted at her leg and noticed something tiny and black like the leg of perhaps a spider on her skin. By Friday the bite location was inflamed and sore so she went to the emergency room and there was diagnosed as having a MRSA inflection and cellulitis. Hot and cold treatments were prescribed as well as a powerful antibiotic medication, but as of August 21, Gayle’s leg is still pretty red and sore, and beginning to drain a bit. After talking to Debbie, Gayle is going to try a charcoal poultice to draw out the infection and we are praying for her as well.
You may or may not have heard of MRSA (mersa) infections but they are on the rise not only in hospitals, but at home and in the community. MRSA stands for Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. The danger of MRSA is that it is highly resistant to antibiotics and can linger on for months and years. Following are some quotations from a website entitled “MRSA Secrets Revealed.â€
“MRSA is an infection that is caused by the bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus or "Staph" for short. MRSA is simply a form of Staph bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics. MRSA and Staph are responsible for many types of skin infections like boils and abscesses, and internal infections like pneumonia, bone infections and heart infections and even the flesh-eating disease.
“MRSA bacteria have acquired an immunity or resistance to many types of antibiotics. Some types of MRSA can not be treated with antibiotics anymore, leaving many people without a solution.
“Synthetic or man-made antibiotics were created in the 1940s to stop the growth of bacteria. They have been a savior for many illnesses and infections since their creation. However, the more antibiotics have been used, the quicker bacteria like MRSA have learned to become resistant to these antibiotics. Each year more types of bacteria adapt and become resistant to antibiotics.
“According to a recent study, as many as 1.2 million US hospital patients are infected with MRSA each year and this study also suggests that as many as 119,000 people die each year from MRSA infections. This death rate is much more than the number of people who die from the AIDS virus each year. (study data per the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology).â€
Not only is MRSA very resistant to antibiotics, it is also highly contagious and can be spread from family member to family member via items such as a hand towel in the bathroom. Because of the overuse of antibiotics, MRSA has the potential of being a real risk to all of us and caution needs to be used.
Sin is a lot like MRSA. We have all in a sense been bitten by a spider (Satan) and we have an incredibly dangerous bacteria infection running through our whole system, an infection which is resistant to any known human cure. This infection called sin is 100% fatal and all of us will die without a cure. The Bible emphatically declares that “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.†(Romans 3:23) and that the “wages of sin is death.†(Romans 6:23)
The good news is that there is a cure, an “antibiotic†that works against sin! Romans 6 gives us the answer, as well as the consequences of letting this infection of sin continue. Read the full prescription which the Apostle has written: “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.†(Romans 6:22, 23) As with antibiotics, some are resistant to “swallowing a pill†and some are resistant to the method which the Apostle John prescribed for the sin condition, because it takes a humble and contrite heart, but his prescription works and it works every time: “If we will confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.†(I John 1:9) When I look at the consequences of not following the prescription (eternal death), I recognize how foolish it would be to not obey the remedy freely given by our Lord and Saviour.
I believe we are living at the end of the “sin experiment†begun millenniums ago by the spider Satan. Soon – if it is not already taking place – the “judgement of the living†will take place in Heaven’s Sanctuary by our High Priest Jesus. Let each of us cooperate with our loving Saviour and ask Him to cleanse us of this MRSA-like infection. Would you, would I just right now pause and ask Him for the remedy?