Sunday, March 15, 2015

Our President Is Sick

(This is the 10th commentary I have given this year on Radio Christian Voice. It was aired last Thursday)


This week, the health of President Edgar Lungu is on everyone’s mind and tongue. The event that occasioned all the speculations have to do with his failure to complete his assignment during the International Women’s Day celebrations. Since then tongues have been wagging.

Thankfully, the President has not disappeared from public view so that we are simply being assured that he is busy in State House actively running the nation. Nor are we being told afterwards that he left the country for medical check-ups the previous night.

President Lungu has been forthright about his health and lack of health. Whether we believe what we are being told is up to us as individuals. However, the fact that he is talking about it has reduced on the speculations, which tortured us last year with his predecessor.

The fact that President Lungu has told us about his health problems does not mean he is going to die—and neither does it mean he will live. Only God holds our lives in his hands. A very healthy person can be involved in a traffic accident and die today. That is a fact.

Everyday, babies die, toddlers die, children die, teenagers die, young adults die, those with young families die, those in mid-life die, and even old people die. In other words, it does not matter who you are—president or not—you could die tomorrow…or even today.

What should concern all of us is what comes next after you die. What is the next big item on the agenda of our lives? This is the all-important question.

The book of Hebrews in the Bible gives us the answer. It says in chapter 9 and verse 27, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” Nothing can be clearer than that. The next big agenda for all of us when we die is to meet God our Maker.

That meeting is meant to bring us to judgment. In that judgment, our lives—however brief or long—will be reviewed and God will either welcome us into his heaven or send us to an eternal lake of fire, depending on what he will find there. That is where we will be forever.

Since all of us are sinners—whether we are presidents or not—it begs the question, “Then what should we do to escape being condemned to hell?” Burying our heads in the sand and concentrating on President Lungu’s health will not take away this solemn reality.

Thankfully, after saying, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,” the Bible says, “So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

In other words, our only hope of escaping the lake of fire is in the death of Jesus on our behalf. He bore our punishment on the cross. Have you trusted in him yet? Do so today!

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