Luke 20:20 English Standard Version (ESV) So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.

One could have expected a verse about end time plagues with a title like infections. This verse better serves to address my intentions. We get caught up in words silently and with little notice because after all they are just words.

During this pandemic we have seen that it infects people two weeks before symptoms appear. People are spreading the infection without even being aware that they have been infected. We cannot trust anyone for fear of infection.

So what does that have to do with words? As a devotional writer I have a responsibility to God to present His Word in relevant terms to the life we live as Christians and sinners. Coming to Christ is the only thing that matters. Being this new creation in Christ is to be exampled in how we live, to encourage each other and attract the lost to the family of God. We are to be welcoming.

These times have caused me to use words and verses that border on fear mongering. I may not have crossed the line but my heart tells me I have strayed too far afield of my calling. At times I feel like I am close to making a sandwich board with “The End is Coming!” written on both sides.

No one should be made to fear to come to Christ, not like that. Our lives are meant to share love, not fear. What I might know about bible prophecy should be used to encourage not frighten. What I am unsure about was not meant to spread fear and doubt. It should spur me on to spread the gospel of Christ all the more, not less.

If I have infected anyone with my words, please know the Jesus is our great healer. Turn to Him.

Job 19:14 English Standard Version (ESV) My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me.

Human relationships are complicated. Here is a sad truth. Sometimes we do not know how much we care about another person until we fail them.

While we all want to feel reliable, self-interests often interfere with performance. We get “busy” and lose track of time. We get “immersed” and lose awareness of others. We get “hungry” and forget our partner’s needs.

Placing those words “in quotes” implies that there is more to those words that what is said. We must see ourselves in those moments as being that kind of person. We all do it to some degree. Even being mindful is no guarantee that it will not happen again. We are after all flesh.

Genesis 2:23 English Standard Version (ESV) Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

Hurt the ones we love and we hurt ourselves. We should weep when we fail others but if we do not we did not love them as God intended.

Having watched many marriages fail over the years they all seemed to have the same common flaw. God did not bring them together and join them in marriage.

We all are flesh and we will fail from time to time but the ability to get over it and make things right is founded in godly relationships, marriage or otherwise.

We use find sounding words like “committed 100%”, but if that were the case we would lose self and that which God has created us to be would be swallowed up by the other.

We were meant to help each other be all that God wants us to be, not what we want.