Vital signs- Friday, August, 20th, 2021

The highly lethal Ebola virus has been known for many years, but a major outbreak in 2014 created a global health scare. As hundreds of patients in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia contracted the deadly disease, the local health care facilities were quickly overrun. International groups like Samaritan's Purse and Doctors without Borders set up emergency treatment in the affected areas. They did everything possible to let people know that help was available. Though thousands died, many tens of thousands were saved as the worst cases were isolated and treated. Nearly three years passed before the outbreak was  considered to be fully controlled.

There has been a raging sin virus spreading throughout the world since the Garden of Eden. It is 100 percent deadly, and there is only one hope of a cure. Yet far too often God’s children, having received the cure of salvation for themselves, fail to do their part to shine the light of the gospel into the darkness of the world. It is a tragedy because we are God’s only plan for reaching the lost. He does not send angels to carry the message. Instead He commands us to do it. “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). We are the only hope for a lost and dying world.

We who have received God’s gift of salvation have the weighty responsibility of sharing the gospel with the world.