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I got the call around 8.06 GMT yesterday, and the message was heartbreaking,

“Have you heard that your classmate is dead?”

“Who? What happened?” I shot back.

The questions came out instinctively. I knew who he was talking about because we have only one mutual friend who was also my classmate. He told me the wife called to break the news earlier that morning. I went numb!

He died just like that? We chat from time to time since we operate in related industries. The last time we chatted was on September 16, 2020; and he was inviting me to a zoom presentation for a new product he was promoting! He was even active helping a candidate with technology tools in the December 2020 elections!

I stopped everything and called our year group president. He confirmed it. I later got to know he died just this Saturday and has already been buried.

It is very easy to be deceived into thinking that Covid-19 cannot touch you, especially since you survived the initial wave in 2020! So you let down your guards! But that is where the danger is. The ones dying now survived 2020 too! They did not expect to die from Covid-19 after the initial scare passed. Don’t think you are too special. Covid-19 is still as dangerous as ever! It was scary initially because it was new and mysterious. We now know a little more about it than we knew a year ago; but covid-19 keeps mutating! It keeps changing!

I spoke with a doctor classmate, who had combed all hospitals he could think of for 32 hours, trying unsuccessfully to get our mate a ventilator; and watched helplessly as he took his last breath! He told me our mate never had the coughs and other signs we know of. He simply had pains all over the body, and felt his energy levels going down.

At the time he got to the hospital, his blood oxygen level was still excellent, but then it started plummeting! That was when everything went into frenzy! He did not survive.

My advice to everyone is:

• FOLLOW THE PROTOCOLS,  AND BY ALL MEANS, AVOID GETTING SICK.
• PROTECT AND TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.
• SEEK HELP EARLY IF YOU START FEELING UNWELL!
• KEEP PRAYING.

Our healthcare system is getting overstretched, and a doctor not being able to get a ventilator for a dying friend for 32 hours is enough to tell us that letting our guard down is a potential suicide mission! People are dying. Three people I know personally have died this year. The year is just 40 days old!

One ventilator per constituency is bad enough, but from what my doctor friend told me, we cannot even afford the luxury of one ventilator per constituency if we decide to share them by constituency! From the figure he gave me, there would still be 75 constituencies without ventilators! Got the picture?

Covid-19 is warfare; war against humanity, war against freedom of movement, war against freedom of worship, war against life itself, and war against children of God! We need to know the times.

When armed men joined David for battle at Hebron (1 Chronicles 12:23-38), it was recorded that from Issachar came,

“Men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.”

(1 Chronicles 12:23)

David, the man of faith, the giant killer, the man after God’s own heart; needed people who understood the times in order to go to battle! We need to also understand the times we are in, in order to battle Covid-19. It is not business as usual. The times are evil!

When people die, it affects families, it affects friends, it affects schoolmates, it affects colleagues at work, it affects souls yet to be won, and established in Christ. It also affects individuals, like me. So it is not just about you. It is about all of us, so please be extra cautious, and stay safe.

God will definitely help us, but we need to do our part.

MEMORY VERSE

“From Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.”

(1 Chronicles 12:23)

QUESTIONS

•      Do you know that we are still in very strange times that we cannot take for granted?
•      Do you know that it is not God’s will that anyone should perish?

PRAYER TIP

Father, please open our eyes
to the times we are in; and
give us the wisdom to navigate
safely. In Jesus' name.

URGENT CALL

Every soul is valuable to God, far more than the entire world! But by nature, we are all sinful, and alienated from God, and we ultimately face his wrath!

God in His mercy and love made a way for us to remedy this. He gives us a chance to reverse this downward spiral to destruction, join His family, be part of His household, and become His children.

The first step to becoming a member of God’s household is for us to be saved.

Salvation comes through accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Personal Savior.

It is a very personal decision. No one can make that decision for you.

If you make that decision today, there will be great singing and rejoicing in heaven; because one new member has joined the family and household of God! A soul, much, much more valuable than the world, has been saved from destruction!

Do you want to make that decision today?

Please visit “The Believer’s Prayer”
for guidance if you want
to make that decision.

We will be happy to hear from you through the contact information on that page, or the ones at the top of this page. Don’t delay. Make this very personal decision today!

God richly bless you

SPECIAL GRATITUDE

Thank you for visiting the Testimony Devotional Website.

We would not have gotten here without your prayers, goodwill and overall support. We are grateful, and humbled.

We thank God for counting us worthy to share in His Great Commission; and we thank you for sticking with us through this journey.

God richly bless you.

The Testimony Devotional website addresses are:

https://testimonydevotional.org/

https://testimonydevotional.com/