fidzbit

Dear friends of our have been locked in their flat for several days. We do not think it is coronavirus but because one member of the family has the symptoms of a bad cold, the whole family has been asked to quarantine themselves. The closeness of their relationships mean that it is more than likely they all have the illness, even if they are not all showing symptoms yet. Perhaps this can help us understand how, through Adam and Eve's sin, all human beings have become sinful. " Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned" (Romans 5:12) Adam and Eve 'caught' sin. Sin spread like a disease to all their close relatives, and with sin came death. In self-isolating themselves from God, they also quarantined their descendants from God. Tragically, as human beings we are born into this tragic condition - like being born in the home of a quarantined family. Babies and young...

A good friend of mine enjoys conspiracy theories. He is always suspicious that behind big world events there are hidden organisations pulling the strings. Sometimes he might even be on to something! A conspiracy theorist is never quite sure who to trust... God made people for relationship. He gave Adam and Eve a huge amount of freedom and just one rule. There was just one way they could isolate themselves from God: eating the fruit He had forbidden them to eat. He didn't want their relationship to break and He told them so: “ You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. ” To self-isolate from the God who gave you life can only result in death. It is a commandment but it is something more than a cold legal demand. It is a commandment intended to prevent the tragic events of a broken relationship with ...

When I first heard the word "self-isolating" it made me smile. It seems like a very British thing to do! In other countries the government quarantine people. Maybe it will come to that here too but, for the moment at least, if we have symptoms we make the decision to stay away from other people. There is something unique about the scepticism and resistance British people sometimes show towards authority. Push too hard  or too quick and we Brits are likely to react by doing the opposite of what we are told. Give us a sense that we are making the decision - we choose to isolate ourselves - so building the sense that we are coming together as a community for the greater good, and we will do it gladly and freely. Many people feel that God has chosen to self-isolate from us. This is particularly true in times of suffering. Where is God when I hurt? Why won't He reveal himself clearly? If He is good and has the power to help then why are we in...