Greetings Saints and Friends,
​Have you ever had a headache that would not go away no matter what you did? Evidently, one of the ancient pharaohs had a migraine that would not relent. He called in all his doctors, magicians, and priests to find a cure. The magicians told the pharaoh that he had an evil spirit in his head. The spiritual priests agreed and said the evil spirit must be exorcised. And the doctors obliged by surgically drilling a hole in the pharaoh’s skull to release the evil spirit.
​While we have no record if this procedure actually worked, we do read as far back as the 5th century in the Hippocratic texts, that drilling a hole in someone’s head was actually used for a variety of reasons. Fortunately, since then, we do have safer means to treat headaches and other ailments. Some of these old trusted remedies have been passed down through the years. Perhaps you have tried some of these homemade remedies yourself or known other people who have.
​One day, when grandpa had a bad cold, grandma said she was going to make him some mustard plaster. While grandpa leaned back on a couple of pillows in bed, grandma came in with the mustard plaster. Grandpa was sick, but he was ticklish, too. As grandma started wrapping the cloth around him, grandpa began to giggle, then he began to laugh. We started laughing, too. Then grandpa coughed and his teeth came out and landed on the bed next to grandma; then everyone was laughing. I don’t know if it was the mustard plaster or the laughing, but grandpa was breathing better soon afterwards.
​Grandma began to tell us of some other remedies they used over the years.
She said, “They are sure to work most of the time, if you prepare them correctly and you have the right ailment wrong with you. For example, you can use raw potatoes for burns, vinegar and honey for a sore throat, a poultice of bread and milk for boils, oil of clove for toothaches, castor oil for a tummy-ache, and…. ‘Snore-Snore!’ And maybe a clothespin for grandpa’s snoring!”
​“Wow Grandma, you know how to cure everything!”
“No, not quite, dear. But I do know Who can – Jesus.”
“That’s right, Grandma. Our pastor said that Jesus went around healing all kinds of people from various sicknesses and diseases. He even raised people from the dead back to life! Grandma, if Jesus could heal anyone He wanted and raise people like Lazarus and the widow’s son back to life, why did He have to die?”
​“Well, dear. Each of us is born with a terrible disease called sin. No amount of plasters, ointments, or anything we do can heal our disease. And sin keeps us from going to Heaven. But since God loves every person and wants each of us to be with Him forever, He already had a plan in place when Adam and Eve disobeyed Him in the Garden of Eden. When Adam disobeyed God, he brought sin into the world. With sin, came the tragic and ultimate result of spiritual and physical death. Because we sin, we deserve to die. The Bible says, ‘the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’” Romans 6:23 “But Grandma, if we don’t deserve to go to Heaven because of our sin disease, how can God give us eternal life?” “Well, dear. God’s plan was to send Jesus, Who has no sin, to die for our sins. The Bible says, ‘God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ Romans 5:8 That is, He died in our place for the penalty of our sins. Because He did, He is able to cure us of our sin disease. When someone trusts in Jesus as their Savior because He died for their sins, their sins are paid for and the Holy Spirit makes them alive with Jesus. Ephesians 2:5
King David said, ‘Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases. Psalm 103:2-3’”
​Jesus has been called the Great Physician, because only He can heal our worst disease, sin. You can pray today: ‘Jesus, I’m sick with sin. I need to be healed. Thank You for paying for my sins when You died and rose again. Save me and heal me today, in Jesus’ name, Amen.’ Like anyone who has been affected by disease, the effects may linger with you for awhile. But the day is coming, when in heaven, your body will be better than new. And there will be no death, sorrow, crying, or pain forever. Revelation 21:4