by Jeremy A. Brown

Who knew the pandemic would affect us in this way?! The courts in California have allowed the state governor to prevent churches from congregating to hold services according to a recent article in the LA Times. In essence, people are not allowed to decide for themselves; the government has placed these restrictions on them and they could be fined or jailed if they decide to “break” the new law. Many other states and cities have passed similar laws restricting churches from congregating indoors to hold worship services throughout the U.S. and even in other nations. What are we as Christians supposed to do? Would you believe that the Bible gives us an example as to how we should react in such situations?

I happened upon a great scripture that we should use to guide us during these weird times. In John 7:10-15, it talks about how Jesus kept the Feast of Tabernacles despite knowing people were waiting at the Feast of Tabernacles to murder Him. Jesus did not neglect the proper keeping of the holy days, despite the threat of death. He just went in disguise. We should not allow this pandemic to interrupt how we properly keep and worship our God on His Sabbaths and holy days. We need to make sure we properly worship the Father whether in a mask or some other disguise, but we must continue in our worship of our God. Yes, take the necessary precautions, but we must hold to the correct way of worshipping our Lord and soon coming Savior (Isaiah 58:13).

We must take to heart what the Bible says in Hebrews 4:15. We have a High Priest who can empathize with us because He has gone through all of the temptations we have gone through.  We are to follow the lead of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Let us not neglect the proper keeping of God’s holy days and Sabbaths (Deuteronomy 5:12).