We will probably always remember seeing the videos on the evening news showing people in hundreds of cars, in multiple lines, waiting to receive the COVID vaccine. The vaccine was debated but is now widely accepted.

That is true of most vaccines we have taken. If we can avoid a serious illness, especially an illness that could cause death, we accept the vaccine.

My grandson was diagnosed with leukemia and the months that followed were filled with long hospitalizations so he could receive chemo treatments. No parent would ever wish for those moments, but when medicine can save a life the treatments are still seen as a blessing. Even the side effects are a reminder that the medicine is at work to kill a disease.

We don’t like to think about the possibility of someone we love needing a lifesaving treatment. We also don’t like to think about the fact that every person, regardless of the medicines of this world, will one day come to the end of life.

If we had a vaccine or treatment that would save the life of someone, wouldn’t we encourage them to take it?

John wrote that “all who did receive” Jesus, those who “believed in his name,” were given the “right to become children of God.” How can we keep our faith to ourselves? How can we not do and say everything we can to share the gospel with others? Our words can help someone become a child of God and live eternally in heaven.

Remaining quiet could keep someone from entering heaven.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. We aren’t responsible for the free-will choice a person will make about their salvation—that’s between them and God. We are responsible for sharing our faith with the wisdom and leadership of God’s Spirit. We have the cure for so much of what is not right in this world. Imagine if we valued evangelism as we value a life-saving treatment. How would that perspective change our world?