We are being urged to lose weight. While this may be difficult, it is actually possible for most of us and it is for our own well-being. Although BMI is not a perfect measure, it is used by medical experts to monitor weight and associated health. And, according to the NHS, in 2018 nearly two thirds of adults in England were overweight or obese measured by BMI. A hard message to accept: most of us don’t think of ourselves as overweight. True, when we look at photos from years ago people look a ‘bit skinny’, but we look OK to ourselves.

This is partly because we compare ourselves with other people. The shape of what we consider to be ‘normal’ has changed. We do not judge ourselves by BMI but by comparison with what we see around us.

What about other aspects of our lives? Our spiritual well-being: our attitude to life, our priorities and our values; our reaction to Almighty God and His word, the Bible. God is right. He is always right, and He – alone – sets the standards for correct behaviour.

Great and marvellous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!

Revelation 15:3

Unlike medical advice, His commands are flawless.

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple .

Psalm 19:7

We might consider ourselves to be ‘pretty good’. But the Bible’s blunt lesson is that we cannot discern right and wrong by ourselves.

O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.

Jeremiah 10:23

So it is no good comparing ourselves with society, with what is ‘normal’. We need to compare ourselves with the supreme example: God’s son, Jesus. While it is impossible for us to be perfect like him, God asks us to try. We need to read God’s word and then to try to obey it. This is what the letter of James teaches us.

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

James 1:23-25

It may seem like a hard message, but it is most definitely for our eternal well-being.

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Coronavirus is bad. It is worldwide, and has drastically changed our lives. Some people are traumatised by it, while others deny or ignore its severity and symptoms. Scientists work hard to understand it better and to produce a vaccine or cure.

There is, however, a worldwide problem, affecting us all, which is far, far worse. It is an old-fashioned word, and it is an unpleasant concept. But it features strongly in the Bible. It is ‘SIN’.

Like it or not, we all sin. And like it or not, we all die as a result.

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us”

1 John 1:8

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

Romans 3:2

“For the wages of sin is death…”

Romans 6:23

While we can be badly influenced by other people, but even total isolation cannot shield us from sin, because it comes from within ourselves.

And [Jesus] said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness’”

Mark 7:20-22

Unlike the virus, we know the symptoms. The Bible tells us. And unlike the virus, there is a remedy, the cost of which was phenomenal. The only man who has never sinned died an excruciating death so that our sins can be forgiven and so that we can be saved from eternal death.

”For when we were without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life”

Romans 5:6-10

How can we ignore this solution to our biggest problem?

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During the recent hot weather some people have been flocking to crowded beaches. Sadly, in the current situation, this is not without risk. They themselves can be in danger, or they can expose other people to danger.

Crowds are often not good places to be. In a crowd we can do things that we would not do when alone. It is easy to get drawn along by the mood and emotion generated by large numbers of people. This can give us a sense of courage, and engender strong feelings about things which have previously been of little interest to us.

Ironically, the majority is not always right. Mark Twain said:

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect”

Years ago, a crowd of Jews cried out for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ: the worst crime in history. They had been incited by the religious authorities, and we wonder how many would have planned this, or indeed done it, on their own.

…the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that [Pilate] should rather release Barabbas to them.  Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” So they cried out again, “Crucify him!”

Mark 15:11-13

In fact, such behaviour was against their law:

You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice

Exodus 23:2

Not long before this, the crowds had gathered to see Jesus. They loved his miracles and signs. But few took notice of his preaching, because the miracles failed to persuade them of who he was.

But although he had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in him

John 12:37

Thousands of years before this, the Hebrews in the wilderness faced disaster for following the majority. They were near the end of their journey to Israel from Egypt, and Moses sent out twelve spies to look at the land. Ten came back with a pessimistic report which the people believed, not trusting in God. As a consequence they had to stay in the wilderness for a further 40 years until those who had disbelieved died.

So no wonder that Jesus gave a stark warning about following the majority.

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it

Matthew 7:13

Following Jesus can lead us to eternal life:

Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it

Matthew 7:1

So we do well to be brave and sometimes not to follow the crowds.

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