While we are all still coming to terms with the impact of the current Coronavirus emergency, living through its consequences as they change day-by-day, it is easy to forget the struggles that farmers face on a daily basis as they try to keep their animals free from disease. Take bovine tuberculosis, for example, which last year cost UK taxpayers over £150 million and led to the slaughter of more than 56,000 cattle.
Along with the worry of the current Coronavirus crisis, despite huge efforts to bring bovine tuberculosis under control, it continues to cause a great deal of anxiety and stress for many farmers. Thankfully, our home herd has never had a serious TB breakdown, but increasingly it seems like we are in the minority.
TB’s devastating consequences
When surplus livestock are unable to go to market, finances and forage supplies come under pressure and housing facilities reach capacity, the daily workload can seem never ending. But most devastating of all is having to stand back and watch as seemingly healthy cattle are lost forever, and all that means.
If we didn’t have enough to focus on, despite our scientific advances, bovine TB remains at large and is a real worry for farmers. A combination of tests are needed to reliably detect infections, and even then, they are not completely accurate. For many, it seems like bovine TB is always one step ahead.
In the Bible, we read of a different kind of disease, a spiritual one this time, more devastating than any illness and its effects are felt on a daily basis – it is called sin. We don’t need a test for it, because the Bible makes it clear that everyone suffers from it, as we are told in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Sin’s symptoms are many. Some are obvious, such as greed, corruption, deceit, pride and the breakdown of relationships, while others are unseen - eternal punishment and separation from God. Left untreated, the consequences of sin are serious. The Message version of the Bible puts it powerfully like this, “Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death (Romans 6:23).
Cure for an age-old ‘pandemic’
Thankfully, a cure is available. It is not a vaccine, or a drug, but something that is freely given to those who ask - the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. In one of the most famous passages in the Bible we read this joyous news, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Success is 100% guaranteed, as there is no sin that is ‘resistant’ to His saving grace. His grace will never run out either, and best of all, it is freely available, for Jesus paid the cost of our sin Himself on the Cross.
And when you know Jesus personally, God’s word and His promises come to life, and we discover that “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear…” (Proverbs 46:1-2).
In all that is happening in the world around us, why not receive this gift from the Lord Jesus today? He dealt with my sin, let Him deal with yours, and you will enjoy life to the full – and not just for now, but for eternity.
Ronald Annett works for a local animal feed company and helps out on the family farm in the shadow of the Mourne Mountains. He is a member of Mourne Presbyterian Church in Kilkeel, County Down.
His blog appeared in today’s Farming Life, a fortnightly column entitled ‘Good News for the Countryside’, where people from a farming background, or who have a heart for the countryside, offer a personal reflection on faith and rural life.
You can read Ronald’s other contributions and look at other reflections in this series of blogs here.