day 1383: A Cough

"Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness."

Want to be "superhorse", California Chrome, has a "cough".  As he prepares for the second leg of the Triple Crown tomorrow in The Preakness Stakes, everyone is talking about the coughs that he had as he came off the racetrack yesterday after training. It's clear, no one likes to hear a cough in a racehorse, in a person, or in a company.  A cough signifies nothing but bad to come. Sometimes, it's nothing and a little tickle in the throat passes, but when we hear a cough, we begin to worry and even step aside to not catch the cold ourselves.  Last year, while traveling in Costa Rica, one of the locals told me that when America coughs, Latin America gets pneumonia.  No one likes a cough and more often than not those coughs that we see in the market, or with a company, or in a team are the beginning of something and shouldn't be ignored.  How many times have we heard the cough, ignored it and and then later kicked ourselves for not seeing what later were so obvious signs?

Our own spiritual lives can have a cough and we need to be just as aware, or even more so, than if that cough is for our physical well being. When our mind wanders, or that habit that we thought was beat resurfaces, or those words that we had curbed start slipping back into our vocabulary, or when work and the business of life impedes our quiet time with God, then we need to be wary.  What feels like something that will just go away and is nothing to really be concerned about  lingers, then it is time to check in and be sure that out spiritual health remains strong.  No place is more contagious for all the wrong things than our work environment.  How well do we feel today?  Take inventory and  finish this week well and strong!

Reference: Matthew 9:35 (New Living Translation)