The Role of Obedience in This Pandemic

“If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land.”

Truth be told, when COVID19 pandemic has first stricken our nation, many feared for its transmission, causing them to stay inside their homes and observe quarantine protocols. However, as days turned into weeks and weeks into months, people started looking for ways to “live with” this pandemic causing business establishments to slowly open up their doors for more people and cities and municipalities to slowly open their borders once again. What’s more, the freedom to roam around that everybody wanted is slowly being granted. However, we have also noticed that for the past weeks, cases of COVID19 infected patients escalated to hundreds of thousands that can lead us to think, “When will this pandemic end?” Why is it still transmitting fast like wildfire when everyone should have learned by now how to protect themselves from it?
 
Sad to say, widespread stories of exposure of COVID19 positive patients resulted from disobedience to the set quarantine rules and protocols. Imagine someone who tested positive for COVID19 from a drinking spree. Still, another acquired the disease as a result of his/her tour in a known COVID19 infected place. Another got infected for not taking steps to safeguard his/her health like not having enough sleep or not maintaining clean surroundings. Sad to say, this disobedience of some people caused the lockdown of their communities and their workplaces, not to mention endangering the lives of those around them. It’s true, we can heal as one but without adherence to protocols and basic sanitation practices, we can never attain our goal. Yes, we need to survive but we still have to keep safety in mind or we will end up as unnecessary casualties in these trying times. It is basic that we should follow quarantine protocols, not just for our own sake but for the sake of the community we belong to.
 
Obedience plays a major role in combating this pandemic. Without obedience, people perish. As old as history, we could see that people who caused harm to their environment and nations are those who are practically disobedient to basic rules. One major example of this is Pharaoh of Egypt during the time of Moses. During those days, Moses went to him to bargain for the release of his people, shouting, “Let my people go!” However, he never allowed them to. That disobedience sadly put his people in danger, allowing them, the Egyptians, to experience ten plaques until the point of losing an entire generation of Egyptian firstborns. From here, we can see how the disobedience of one leader led to the suffering of his people. We can therefore conclude that disobedience can result to curses while obedience can lead to blessings. Not only will it keep us from COVID19 but will also allow us to enjoy the best of the land. The Word says, “If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land.” (JBB, CRFV)