Easter Risk Management
Over the last couple of years, as we’ve faced the COVID pandemic and devastating bushfires and floods, we’ve had to come to a greater understanding of the concept of risk. What is the likelihood of something bad happening us? What will be the consequences if that thing happens? How can we prepare so that we minimise, or eliminate, the chances of that bad thing happening to us? This is what risk management is all about.
Government policy is often determined by risk. Risk is informing the current discussion about whether to remove the need for the close contacts of COVID positive people to isolate for seven days. Our insurance premiums - what we pay to protect our homes, our cars, our income, and even our lives - is determined by the risk of fire, flood, or other disaster. As the likelihood of loss goes up, so do our premiums. We have to think about risk, and ways of reducing risk, because our future well-being depends on it.
What has any of that got to do with Easter? It’s simple. Easter is God’s answer to the greatest threat to our well-being that we will ever face. Easter is a recognition of the fact that, either through ignorance or deliberate choice, every single one of us have cut ourselves off from the source of life and live our lives without any thought for the one who created us. The bible makes it clear. “Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). The consequence of our action, or inaction, is disaster and the premium to insure against this is more than any of us can afford to pay. How is Easter an answer to this? The bible goes on, “Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins” (Romans 3:24). Jesus stepped in and paid the premium on our behalf.
Is there anything we need to do? Yes. We may not need to pay, but we do need to ask. “People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood” (Romans 3:25). We need to embrace Easter as part of our personal risk management strategy. Go along to one of the Churches of our town this Easter to find out more.
Neil Percival
Government policy is often determined by risk. Risk is informing the current discussion about whether to remove the need for the close contacts of COVID positive people to isolate for seven days. Our insurance premiums - what we pay to protect our homes, our cars, our income, and even our lives - is determined by the risk of fire, flood, or other disaster. As the likelihood of loss goes up, so do our premiums. We have to think about risk, and ways of reducing risk, because our future well-being depends on it.
What has any of that got to do with Easter? It’s simple. Easter is God’s answer to the greatest threat to our well-being that we will ever face. Easter is a recognition of the fact that, either through ignorance or deliberate choice, every single one of us have cut ourselves off from the source of life and live our lives without any thought for the one who created us. The bible makes it clear. “Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). The consequence of our action, or inaction, is disaster and the premium to insure against this is more than any of us can afford to pay. How is Easter an answer to this? The bible goes on, “Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins” (Romans 3:24). Jesus stepped in and paid the premium on our behalf.
Is there anything we need to do? Yes. We may not need to pay, but we do need to ask. “People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood” (Romans 3:25). We need to embrace Easter as part of our personal risk management strategy. Go along to one of the Churches of our town this Easter to find out more.
Neil Percival