Remedy for Our Illness

How we treat the people who we love while they are living corresponds to the way we will treat their remains when they die. We love them through and through until the end and beyond. Love never ends, it is eternal. Praise God!

That brings us to the preparation of the dead. In Jesus' day people who died and were allowed to receive a "proper" burial had their bodies prepared with oils, resins (tree saps, other plant secretions), natron salt, and other elements that are naturally deposited in salt lakes, along with other natural preservatives. The bodies of those who died were lovingly cared for in the same manner as they were loved while they were alive.

How do we show our love for people while they are alive? We make sure they are doing well in good times and troubled times; we try to supply them with what they need to survive and thrive in this world. We sometimes seek to indulge the people we love with material things that are not for survival but simply give them pleasure and comfort just because we want to see them happy.

Think about the last time you gave someone you love a gift that was just for their pleasure, just to see them happy. It did not have to be something that you paid for with money, it could have been time spent with them, or was something you gave that, in one way or another, cost you more than you had to give, but you gave it anyway, even when you were tired or sick.

It might have been something that you made with your own hands, or something that you already had because somebody gifted you, but a loved one wanted it and you gave it to them to make them happy. You may have planned it out or given it spontaneously. Think about the last time you gave a gift that was precious to someone that you loved and remember how it made that person feel. What was that gift, and why did you choose it for them?

Now, I would like you to concentrate on treating the people of this world with a precious gift that would make God happy because it honors God's unconditional love. What would that love gift be?

In the Bible reading for this week from John 12:1-8, it was six days before the Passover and Jesus was with a special friend and his family that he loved very deeply, so much so, that earlier he gave him a precious gift unlike any other. There were offerings and gifts also given to Jesus by others in that family who loved him dearly too.

After you read that passage and pray for God to open your spirit and mind to its meaning, consider the type of gift that would show love for this world by Godly standards, contrasted with the gifts that are normally chosen as signs of love for this world today.