Ezekiel 37:21-28
John 11:45-56
it is better for one man to die for the people
“Love is sacrifice.” It is a cliché but nowadays there are only few people who believe in that. Many Gen Z’s (not all) no longer believe that there is sacrifice in love. They have a loose grasp of that concept, thinking that if it hurts, then it is not love at all. Love, for them, is the number of love reactions they received on social media. Many of them do not want to hear what the Bible says about love. If they are in a relationship, they tend to easily break it off whenever they experience things that do not go their way. They do not like situations that make their life challenging. They do not like to make sacrifices.
Because of the current pandemic situation, lots of memes can be seen on social media. One of the best memes that I saw was, “Stay at home, because we stay at work for you.” It is simple, yet meaningful. Staying at home is one of the solutions to control the spread of virus. For many people (not all), staying at home is a sacrifice because for them, it is boring. They are not free to hang around the mall or other crowded places. For those who are working as pay-per-work, it is also a sacrifice because it means that throughout the quarantine period, they will have no source of income. Hopefully, they would be able to surpass this difficulty. Coming from the point of view of our front-liners, for me it is a great example of their love. Love for their neighbour. They choose to come to work and not give any excuses to stay at home and be with their family. They stand there to see and interact with strangers exposing themselves to the virus. They put their life on the line for the benefit of the majority. With so many people (some are stubborn), they skip meals, they lack sleep, they are overworked, and some have passed away while trying to save others.
These front-liners may or may not believe in God. But they are living the Word of God. What we are experiencing right now is incomparable to what Jesus did to save us. But similarly, the sacrifices made are still not enough and not appreciated by some. Quoting Romans 8:18 “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.”
(Today’s Oxygen by Beryl Baterina)
Prayer: Father God, please forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Amen.
Thanksgiving: Thank you Father God, for your mercy and forgiveness. Thank you for the love and sacrifices of our front-liners in this COVID-19 pandemic. Amen.
OXYGEN 
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