Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky

The soul that sinneth, it shall die. Ezekiel 18:4

Cholera, a very infectious disease, was common a century ago. The bacteria settled in the intestines and poisoned the whole system. Severe diarrhea and vomiting weakened victims until they died within a few days. Thousands of people succumbed, and doctors could do little to help.

Today we can get a vaccination to help us from catching the disease, but in 1893 no one knew how to do this. The only way to keep from getting sick was to keep away from people with the disease. This was hard when an epidemic hit a town, because people were ill in almost every household. It was absolutely necessary to boil all drinking water.

In the fall of 1893 a cholera epidemic raged in St. Petersburg, Russia. Ignoring the danger, Peter Tchaikovsky drank unboiled water. He was thirsty, and boiled water was not available. He didn't want to take the trouble to boil water, and wait for it to cool. He wanted a drink right now.

Within a few days, the man who wrote the Nutcracker Suite was dead, for cholera germs are no respecter for persons. The results are the same whether you are rich or poor, dumb or smart, famous or unknown. Cholera germs don't care if you're a brilliant scientist, a gifted musician, or an escaped convict.

Sin is a lot like the cholera germ. It is easily caught from brothers, sisters, friends and neighbors. Just notice how fast a filthy joke makes the rounds. One child brings it to school, and soon the whole class has heard it. Who teaches kids to swear? No one. Bad language seems to be in the air. One person infects another until we have a real problem on our hands.

Television, radio, cassette players, books, and magazines, as well as our friends, carry the germs of sin. Some of us are like Tchaikovsky, taking no precautions against infection. We think that somehow, because we are Christians, we are immune. We aren't. Sin is no respecter of persons.

Although there was no cure for Tchaikovsky's cholera, there is a remedy for sin. "The blood of Jesus Christ... cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:7). Notice it says it cleanses us from ALL sin. It totally washes us clean, not just one sin here and there, all of it! Don't leave a single germ in your system! Ask Jesus to wash you totally clean, blot out all the sins in your book. Thank God, we don't have to die.