She Took Their Sting
CBS News reports:
Firefighters responded to a call about a bee attack after a mother and her two children were swarmed and attacked by bees while doing a family photo shoot, Arizona Fire & Medical Authority said in a statement on Facebook.
Fire officials said the mother's "quick thinking" saved her kids from being stung when she put them in the car as she took the brunt of the stings.
"She was transported to the hospital with over 75 stings but thankfully has recovered," fire officials said.
A mother's love is fierce, willing to take all the pain, all the trauma, and even the threat of death to protect the children she loves.
How much more fierce is the love of the Savior, taking all the pain, all the trauma, and not just the threat of death, but death itself to protect His children from eternal eternal separation from God?
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55, NIV).
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24, NIV).
The Wages of Sin
Consider the following parable:
One day a LONG time ago there were two coal mines in the heart of Central Pennsylvania. It was payday at one of the mines, and there was a long line of men coming to the cashier's desk to receive their wages. The men were very tired from a long week and a LONG, LONG day of work! The men from the first coal mine were getting their wages, when some men came up whom the cashier didn't know.
"Where have you been working?", he asked.
"We were working in the other mine," they answered.
“Well, then that is the place to go for your money."
"No," they said, "we like your pay best; we are tired, and we want rest, and we want peace and plenty, and we want to be happy knowing that we have worked so hard for good wages! At the mine where we have been working, they are treating us cruelly, and we get no pay, but blows and hard words. Won't you pay us?"
But the cashier said, "No; you chose to work in the other mine, and you must take the wages they pay; you cannot work for one employer and get your wages from another."
That was fair, was it not?
Romans 6:23 clearly tells us that "The wages of sin is DEATH!" But how many people are working in the "mine" of sin and expecting to recieve the wages that God has to offer. Matthew 6:24 tells us, "No man can serve two masters." How can we serve one master and expect to receive from another?
We find in Romans 6:16 that we are a slave to whomever we choose to obey. If we choose to obey sin, this will bring us the "wages" or the "salary" of death. On the contrary, if we choose to be a slave of God and serve Him, this will bring us the "wages" or the "salary" of life.
Don't work for sin and expect to receive the wages that God bestows!
Perfecting the Heart Transplant
The first successful heart transplant was achieved in 1967, but it would take decades for medical science and skilled practitioners to advance the success of the procedure. One such skilled practioner was Dr. Zbigniew Religa of Poland. Religa dedicated his career to transforming Poland's outdated healthcare system.
A now famous picture Religa captures his exhaustion amidst the tangled aftermath of a 23 hour long heart transplant surgergy (a surgery thought nearly impossible in Poland at the time).
As one Facebook poster observes:
This image does more than document a surgical milestone; it invites viewers into the intense reality of the operating room, where science and human spirit collide. It speaks to the sacrifices and unyielding commitment behind medical miracles. The photograph became iconic because it revealed not just the triumph of transplant surgery, but the deep exhaustion and hope that fuel such extraordinary moments. It is a timeless tribute to those who dedicate their lives to saving others, often at great personal cost.
The picture captures perfectly the effort, the exhaustion, the skill, and the ability of this pioneering heart surgeon. And the operation was a great success. The patient, Tadeusz Żytkiewicz, lived until 2017 ... 30 years post surgery!
Dr. Religa, as others both before and after him, have been hailed as medical saviors.
What a picture, and what an accomplishment. Yet with all Dr. Religa's skill — his effort, his commitment — his patient still died.
Truth is, we are all desperately in need of a heart transplant. But we need more than a medical savior. We need a spiritual heart transplan executed by the Savior of our souls — the one who accomplished what was once thought "impossible," instilling eternal "hope," at "great personal cost."
"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26, ESV).
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalms 51:10, ESV).
"I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart" (Jeremiah 24:7, ESV).
"Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded" (James 4:8, ESV).
And finally, once we have submitted to the Great Physician, asking him to replace our hearts of stone with a new a living heart ...
"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews 10:22, ESV).
"... in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15, ESV).