2020 was the year of “the mask” or, a trying time to say the least. By this time, we are a year and six months into the pandemic and the one thing I realized is some of us may have been wearing a mask long before it was mandated.
What do you mean? A brief look into my testimony, I grew up in a Christian home to a Mom and Dad who love and served the lord at a church where my grandfather (granddad) who was a pastor for many years but, that doesn’t automatically make you a follower of Jesus. I heard it in a sermon once, “you are responsible for your walk with the lord.
When I was Elementary school age my parents took me to a Wednesday night program called “AWANA’s” where we played games and actually competed with other church’s in the area where I grew up. Most of the time we spent memorizing bible verses. One of the first bible verse I ever memorized was Jerimiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future.”
Over years and in that program I learned tons of verses and some think memorizing scripture verses will be enough for you to earn your way to heaven and memorizing bible verses is certainly great to do because the Bible says in Psalms 119:11 ” I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you.” The truth is we can’t do enough good to earn our way to heaven Isaiah 64:6 says “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” So even your good works are like filthy rags? In the presence of a holy God our good works don’t even come close to the goodness of God.
It’s a trap! What often times do is we find that one person or group of people who seem to have it all together and outwardly seem to be without sin and we try to imitate that persons actions, the way they carry themselves, the way they act around other people ect. Reading the Bible you will find that Romans 3:23 ” For All have sin and fall short of the glory of God” No one is perfect. The thing with the masks are when you have it over your face often times you have trouble breathing. Same is in our walk with God. If you are trying to imitate other people then it becomes hard to hear what God is trying to say to you and it becomes difficult to be who God has intended you to be which is to be Imatators of Christ” as seen in Ephesians chapter 5.
One last thing! My dad says to “be you.” All of us are put on this earth for a purpose. That purpose is to know God and to make him known and we can’t do that if we are wearing a mask!