Everyone is sick. No—sorry, let me put it this way: every Ghanaian I know seems to be sick.

According to our local home-made doctors, almost every Ghanaian has a disease called “Kookoo.”

This mysterious disease is believed to show itself in many forms.

On the face, it may appear as dark spots; in the eyes as itching or discolouration; in the stomach as a persistent rumbling sound; and in the anal region as a finger-like projection, among other symptoms.

You have Kookoo—whether you admit it or not.

This unwritten diagnosis, so deeply printed in the popular mind, seems almost impossible to erase.

So before the typical Ghanaian even visits the hospital, the diagnosis has already been made at home.

And when the hospital visit is over, the home “specialists” are often surprised that the trained doctors somehow missed what they consider such an obvious condition.

The thought that no one can escape Kookoo amuses me. Yet it reminds me of another disease—one that truly affects the whole world. That disease is sin.

The moment a person comes into the world, he enters an environment already saturated with it.

As David reflects, “Surely... in sin my mother conceived me" (Psa. 51:5).

Even from the hospital bed, the atmosphere of human weakness—corruption, favoritism, nepotism, pride, and rudeness—can already be sensed in society.

This unpleasant breeze follows the child from the hospital into the streets and then into the home, where it appears in different shades.

At home, the air may be polluted with intolerance, abuse, rudeness, laziness, careless speech, and many other things.

Just like the famous MTN slogan, it seems to be “everywhere you go.”

Kookoo aduro (medicine for Kookoo) is sold at almost every corner of the Ghanaian market; yet, the illness is said to be endemic.

Thankfully, it is usually not as deadly as people fear.

Sin, however, is deadly. But fortunately for us, there is a sure remedy—fully vetted and approved by the FDA (Father, Divine, Almighty).

That remedy is the blood of Christ. Anyone who comes into contact with this medicine is made whole (Eph. 1:7; 1 John 1:7) and made brand new (2 Cor. 5:17).

The good news is that this medicine is not hard to obtain:

“But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:8–9).

Believing in Jesus, one makes an appeal for a clear conscience through baptism (1 Pet. 3:21), is added to His church (Acts 2:47), and begins to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4).