You can listen to the podcast version of this post by clicking here.  For the good, old-fashioned text version, read on.

You don’t have to be around kids long to realize how much they love to collect things.  You name it, they’ll collect it: baseball cards, video games, comic books, dolls, coins, seashells, rocks and more.  That’s why it was sheer genius a few years ago when the Center for Disease Control issued their first set of infectious disease trading cards.  Yep, that’s what I said.  Infectious disease trading cards.

Collect all of your favorites!  West Nile Virus!  Avian Flu!  Tuberculosis!  Lyme Disease!  Oh, and don’t forget the rare salmonellosis.  I heard his rookie card went for big money on E-bay last year.

Just imagine the conversations on the playground once kids get their hands on these.

“I’ll trade you a rabies for a staph infection.”

“No way, everybody has rabies.  I’m holding out for anthrax!”

I’m not making this up.  You can go to the CDC website and download your own set of cards as a PDF.  They come with disgusting pictures and everything.  Apparently the CDC uses them to help educate kids about the dangers of these diseases and how to prevent them.

As great of an idea as this is, I don’t think I’d want them sitting out on my coffee table.  If my kids start collecting these cards, we will definitely have a rule that they have to keep their infectious diseases quarantined in their room.  I guess there are just some things it doesn’t seem like a good idea to collect.

Sometimes we all hold onto things we shouldn’t.  Think of how many of us carry around past wounds, insecurities, fears, bitterness, guilt, shame or regret.  It’s like we collect these things and are reluctant to part with them as if they had some kind of value.  They are our own personal spiritual diseases, and they infect every part of our lives.

But this was never part of God’s plan.  That’s why Jesus was so big into healing people.  In one of my favorite stories, Jesus ran into a guy who had been paralyzed for 38 years.  The first thing Jesus asked him was, “Do you want to get well?”

It’s probably a good question for all of us who need to surrender some things that are holding us back.

Maybe today’s the day we lay down what’s been infecting our hearts and tell Jesus, “Yeah, I do want to get well.” – Click to Tweet.

From there we just let God handle the rest and lead us to health one step at a time.

If you want to collect something, you’re welcome to pick up your own copy of the CDC’s trading cards.  As gross as they are, they’re definitely better than the junk we sometimes carry around in our hearts.  For myself, I think I’ll just grab a book of stamps.  They may not prevent a global pandemic but at least I can leave them out on my coffee table.