The Contagion of Health

“* Waxing confident by my bonds.’’ — Puut. i. 14.

I wap rather assumed that Paul’s bonds would have filled his companions with fear. I thought that his imprisonment would have been a menace which would have stricken their souls with terror. But the prisoner eclipsed his prison. His courage was more obtrusive than his chains. His fellowship with the Lord was more manifest than his bondage to a Roman soldier. His light shone in the darkness, and the darkness was unable to quench it. And ‘‘ many of the brethren of the Lord,” coming into this bright, inspiring atmosphere, felt the quickening of the Apostle’s triumph, and were *“much more bold to speak the word without fear.” The time of another man’s constraint was the season of their enlargement.

There is a contagion of health. Our ordinary thought and speech have made us more familiar with the contagion of disease. We are busy thinking about hostile microbes and bacteria, and the havoc which they work upon “the earthly house of this tabernacle.” And we think of the unfriendly bacteria which assail the soul — evil suggestion, irreverence, unworthy fear, frivolity. But there is a healthy contagion, soul influencing soul with strengthening and inspiring ministries. Every noble virtue is the base of a splendid contagion. Paul’s courage invigorates the apostolic fellowship.

Think of the contagion of serenity. How magnificent is the calming influence of one strong man in the initial stages of panic. How quieting is the self-possession of one strong woman in the day when calamity has riven the family circle. Or think of the contagion of hope. How all our smouldering lamps borrow fresh supplies of oil from the vessel of the thoughtful optimist. Or think of the contagion of perseverance. One man’s quiet, unmurmuring tenacity changes the heart of many a deserter and sends him back to his post. Yes, graces have their inevitable influences as well as vices. Health is as contagious as disease.

And the vital contagion can be born in obscure ministers. The sacrificial patience of Onesiphorus inspired the Apostle Paul. And I wonder how much of his inveterate youthfulness the Apostle owed to the presence of youthful Timothy, his own son in the faith. Every soul can be the centre of contagious health. Every one in Christ Jesus can help to create the spirit and atmosphere of the city of our God.