Hebrews 2:14–15 (ESV)Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he (Jesus Christ) himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

With the arrival of the new Covid variant, we get the new, but not so new, “flee from the bug, grab your mask and hide in your cave while death stalks the streets and steals your children” directives from our rulers and their medical acolytes.

Sometimes I go overboard mocking the fearful. Fear of death is an absolutely rational response when you do not know the One who conquered death, namely Jesus Christ. If this is the only life you’ve got, then it only makes sense to cling to it as your most precious possession. (Not that you ever really possess it; you are actually possessed by it.) So, if you are not possessed by Jesus Christ, be afraid; be very afraid. Death is stalking you, and if you are not the possession of the Source of Life, the end of this life is the doorway to hell.

But if you are Christ’s possession, you have nothing to fear! With the Apostle Paul you can look death, be it from Covid, or cancer, or simple old age, and say, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain!” When seen in the light of the eternal life that is the end of the gospel, death is at its worse, an inconvenience – a brief passage through pain into eternity.So, whether it is a new Covid strain or a failing heart, fellow Christian, prepare to look death and the grave face-on, and declare it a bee without a stinger, a mere shadow crossing the face of the sun. When Jesus walked out of that tomb, we walked out in him.

And BTW, this is what Christmas is all about.