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What
We Can't See
For
millennia the mystery of disease had puzzled mankind.
Various theories had been put forth as to why
people became ill, such as spontaneous generation,
evil spirits, an imbalance of bodily “humors,” and
bad air caused by eclipses and comets, among other
conjectures.
Anton
van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) of Delft, Netherlands, was
employed in the textile business there where
magnifying lenses were used to perform thread count in
cloth. He
began to hone his skill in grinding and polishing
miniature lenses of high curvature, and magnifications
of several hundred power.
His curious mind led him to prepare specimens
of the natural environment and examine them through
his new lenses. These
revealed, to his amazement, a new world of life,
including what he called “tiny animals.”
van Leeuwenhoek thus became the first person to
ever see bacteria and is commonly called “The Father
of Microbiology.”
When
people such as Louis Pasteur in France began to assert
that such microscopic organisms might cause disease
and steadfastly insisted that surgeons sanitize their
hands and equipment before surgery, they were often
met with resistance and even ridicule.
Many scientists and physicians found it
ridiculous that something so tiny could harm a human
being and would viciously attack proponents of such
“quackery.” Doctors
such as Ignaz Simmelweis of Vienna, who insisted that
doctors cleanse themselves before delivering babies,
were made outcasts in the medical community.
Of course, in time, Simmelwies, Pasteur and
others would be vindicated as the danger came to be
realized. *
Sin
can also mislead people in a very similar way bacteria
did in times past.
Indeed many today view sin as a harmless and
meaningless threat to their well-being, ridiculing and
scorning those who point out its devastating effects
on human existence.
Despite the age-old euphemism, wisdom leads us
to realize that....
what we
can’t see … CAN,
in fact, hurt us!
“For
the wages of sin is DEATH, but
the gift of God is ETERNAL LIFE through Christ Jesus
our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
God loved us so much that He gave His Son to
die on the cross to save us from the devastating
effects of sin (John 3:16).
He will save those who respond to this amazing
gift of God’s grace on His terms: believing in Jesus
(Acts 16:30-31), turning from sin in repentance (Acts
17:30-31), confessing Christ (Romans 10:9-10), and
being baptized (immersed) in the name of Jesus for the
forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).
Although
we may not see its effects immediately, sin WILL
ultimately DESTROY us!
But
God has a remedy: the BLOOD
of Jesus. YOU
can be cleansed of sin
-IF- you will
respond in trusting obedience to His will.
Won’t
YOU?
--
Terry Livingston /
David
A. Sargent, Minister
Church
of Christ at Creekwood
1901
Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
*
Contributed by Mr. Always Owen, of Mobile, AL
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