This week Niki and I got our first round of vaccinations for our time in Kenya! We’re getting excited to take an exploratory trip to the Belwop orphanage to see what kind of work we’ll be doing when we move over there!
I don’t know that we were ready for all the vaccinations, but we got through it; each of us got six shots (three in each arm) and two nasal sprays. They say that as a result we are protected against typhoid, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, flu, measles, mumps, rubella and polio. Some of the the vaccines are considered immunizations that completely prevent us from getting the associated illness but with the others they can’t guarantee their effectiveness. In fact, the typhoid vaccine is only 50-80% effective and 30% of those who become infected will die if not treated… I’m grateful that we have a reduced likelihood of getting typhoid but with those statistics we still need to be mindful of the fact that we could get it and die.
This reminds me of an illness that both Niki and I have dealt with our entire lives. We were both born with a terminal disease that was guaranteed to kill us, sin. We have struggled to live lives pleasing to God and have repeatedly given into the flareups of sin. This is actually the most devastating disease that we will ever deal with in our lives. More serious than typhoid, polio or even AIDS. The good news is that because we were made aware of our sin disease we had the opportunity to find the cure, salvation through Jesus Christ. Even though our bodies were afflicted with sin, Jesus took our sins to the cross with Him, forgave us and made us new creations in Him. We are now immunized to the fatal effects of sin. That doesn’t mean that we don’t still struggle with sin, we do, it’s a battle that we will face until we die. What it means is that sin’s power in our lives has been broken and we are no longer condemned by it!
In the Bible Paul says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39 ESV) Sure our typhoid vaccine might not be 100% effective and sure we could die from it but I am certain just as Paul was that even if typhoid kills me it doesn’t have the power to separate me from Jesus. If you don’t have that certainty in your life I’d invite you to think about it and consider calling out to Jesus for immunization.
