But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7

Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is a nasty bit of bacteria.

According to Mayo Clinic, MRSA -- which is often picked up by folks who have been in hospitals, health care facilities, or dialysis settings -- has become resistant to modern-day antibiotics, which are often used to treat staph infections.

To the common Joe or Jane, that means when you get MRSA, it's the dickens to get rid of it.

Since MRSA is so resistant to the regular forms of treatments, the scientific community has been searching for something that can clobber this bug. Indeed, scientists in Britain's Nottingham University have even gone and looked at a 1,000-year-old manuscript: Bald's Leechbook. Bald's Leechbook is one of the world's oldest medical textbooks and it does have a remedy, which the ancients used to treat eye infections.

The cure is a mixture of minced garlic, onions, wine and cow bile, which is brewed with square of brass. Sound weird? Of course. But, like they say, "We dare not leave any stone unturned."

Amazingly, when they turned over this stone and tried the ancient medicine, it worked. That's right. In a laboratory setting the concoction destroyed over 90 percent of the MRSA bacteria. Researchers were astonished, shocked, confused. They simply didn't understand how it worked, but it did.

Future tests are forthcoming.

Now I share this interesting bit of information with you because I believe there is a similarity between this medicine and our salvation. You see, each of us has become infected by sin, an always fatal condition.

The normal cures humanity has devised to combat this illness have proven ineffective. For example, people have thought being good might help them. That failed because they were never able to be good enough. Other folks tried to bribe their gods through various offerings and sacrifices. That didn't do the job because their gods weren't real and, even if they had been, people can't do enough.

In the search to find a cure for sin's condemnation, an ancient book, the Bible, was consulted. In the pages of this God-given volume readers discovered a cure that promised a complete and instant healing.

The cure was a simple one. We're told the blood of God's Son, the world's Savior, cleanses people from all their sin.

To be truthful, like the scientists working with the MRSA cure, I don't understand all the details of why Jesus would come into this world to carry my sins and save me. I don't understand all of the divine complexities, but I know the cure is effective and I, like all believers, am saved.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks for all the physical medicines, which heal physical maladies. Even more I give thanks for the blood of Jesus, which forgives my sinful soul's complaints. In Jesus' Name I give thanks. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: Judges 7-8    Luke 13:23-35

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