Quarantined?

The “word of the week” this week is “quarantine.” Quarantine means “to separate or isolate people in order to protect the public by preventing exposure to people who have or may have a contagious disease.” (www.merriam-webster.com) In order to prevent the spread of COVID19, millions of people around the world are in quarantine – either mandated or self-quarantined by choice. This got me to thinking how Christians are in a way – self-quarantined by choice.

In II Corinthians 6:16-17, Paul told the church at Corinth, “for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, ‘I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate,’ saith the Lord. . .” Just because we live “in the world,” doesn’t mean that we have to be “worldly.” Peter reminded early Christians that, “ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (I Peter 2:9) Peculiar in this verse means “belonging exclusively to God.” Isn’t that awesome? We are chosen. We belong to God. God is light, and we as His followers must reflect that Light. In order for us to “shine” in this dark world of sin, we must “self-quarantine” ourselves. We need to do all that we can for Peter warns Christians that “for if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end being worse with them than the beginning.” (II Peter 2:20)

We “self-quarantine ourselves” from this sinful world, and God sets us apart as He adds us to the “called out – the Church!” (Acts 2:47) While we are separated from the world, our light must shine for all to see. May others follow our light and glorify our Father, Who art in heaven. Simply blessed, Courtney