I hate Colds!

I hate colds and I have one. It started on Wednesday of this last week that plugged up feeling in the middle of your face. You know what’s coming on. Then it’s the soreness, the constant drip and low energy. Many on Sunday, after hearing me talk, asked why didn’t I get one of the staff members to speak? My reply is simple …it’s not that big of a deal. Oh is it?

The study surveyed 4,000 homes by telephone nationwide. 75% of the households surveyed reported suffering from a cold within the last year, with an average of 2.5 episodes a year. The households were asked to report their doctor bills, cost of over-the counter medication, and the cost of prescription drugs. They also reported days of work or school missed due to a cold.
The study found that Americans spend $2.9 billion on over-the-counter drugs and another $400 million on prescription medicines for relief of cold symptoms. Researchers discovered $1.1 billion dollars is spent every year on 41 million antibiotic prescriptions for cold sufferers, though antibiotics have no effect on a viral illness.

The battle against the common cold costs the US economy $40 billion dollars annually, more than other conditions like asthma, heart failure, and emphysema.
Mark Fendrick MD, from the Consortium for Health Outcomes, Innovation, and Cost
Effectiveness at the University if Michigan says the cost of missed days at work and school due to colds is often overlooked. He adds some of the costs may be unnecessary. Fendrick said, "What was a surprise, is how often the public uses the health care system to treat a cold. From a bottle of cough syrup to missed time at work and school, the price tag of catching a cold really adds up."

It’s really not a big deal that can turn into a big deal. We have a lot of things in our life that start out pretty small and insignificant that turns out to be huge in the end. More times then not, the results are not good.

For example look what happen to the Children of Israel. After years of oppression at the hands of their Egyptian captors, God sent Moses to deliver them. En route to the "Promised Land" God provided for their every need, yet they weren't satisfied with God's provisions. Verse five says, "And the people spoke against God and Moses, 'Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.'" There is a reason we call them the "Children of Israel," listen to them-don't they sound like a bunch of spoiled children? In one place they say they have no food. OK, being without food is a reason to complain. But then they say, we "loathe this miserable food." So which is it? Do they have food or not?

Philippians 2:14-16a gives some good advise to everyone who tends toward being a complainer. It says, "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life…." (NIV)

God punished them for their complaining. He sent fiery serpents to bite them. Some say these snakes are called "fiery" because of their color, others because their venom burnt as it entered the body. We don't know for sure which it is, but we do know that their bite was fatal, and the punishment brought the people to their knees. Verse 7 says, "So the people came to Moses and said, 'We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us.' And Moses interceded for the people."

Notice what they confessed to. They confessed that their murmuring against Moses was also against God. They also confessed that their complaining constituted sin. But also notice what they wanted God to take away-the punishment. They asked God to remove the punishment, but did not ask Him to remove their sin.

Like the Children of Israel, we are quick to ask God to remove our punishments and slow to ask Him to remove our sins. Have you ever considered what sin cost us?