Devotionals
You may recognize the title as the Jewish toast meaning “to life” or “to your health.” For many, the ideal life is a healthy life.
When prospective parents are asked if they want a boy or a girl, the traditional answer is, “We don’t care, as long as it’s healthy!” Then there’s the standard adage, “When you’ve got your health, you’ve got everything.” Too bad there are a lot of healthy people in prison and rescue missions and orphanages.
Of course, maintaining good health, although often elusive, is vitally important. But is it important to happiness? And does the lack of good health reduce the quality or value of life?
Good health is not a stable foundation upon which to base your happiness. After all, how many people die healthy? And it is ulti-mately out of our control anyway. Eating a trans- and saturated-fat free, low salt, sugar free, fibrous, steamed piece of celery before visiting the doctor won’t keep him from giving you that diagnosis you feared so much. Diet fads also come and go, and so do peo-ple.
I have high cholesterol and a propensity for kidney stones. Ironically, some of the foods recommended to help my cholesterol are bad for kidney stones, and vice versa. What’s a guy to do?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with exercise and proper diet. In fact, as Christians, we are to treat our bodies well. But healthy bodies are not our top priority. The apostle John wrote to Gaius, “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well” (2 John 2). Notice that he made the health of his friend’s soul the barometer of wellness before his physical health.
Paul said to Timothy, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8). There is, of course, great value in physical exercise, but the benefits are only temporary. The only exertion that will produce true and lasting happiness (joy) is the practice of godliness. That benefits us both now and throughout eternity.
Sin affects our health. It is the cause of death according to Ro-mans 5:12: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” Even the Psalmist cries, “Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin” (Psalm 38:3). Some sins, including sexual immorality (which will be covered in a later devotional), di-rectly affect the body: “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18). Sin may seem pleasurable for a season, but it will always bring us down and eventually hurt us.
In spite of the grim picture that has so far been painted, there is hope. Yes, we are to care for our bodies. We can buy the safest cars, the best gym equipment, the most expensive organic foods, and all the sugar, salt, butter, and flavor substitutes we want, but when the grim reaper finds your name in his appointment book, you must answer the call. This humorous line from the TV show Police Squad has a grain of truth in it: “You take a chance getting up in the morning, crossing the street or sticking your face in a fan.” No matter how cautious you are, you can’t stave off physical problems. But you can learn to prosper despite them.
Joni Eareckson Tada, an athletic girl turned quadriplegic by a swimming accident, has led a worldwide ministry to the disabled for almost 30 years. Christopher Reeve and Michael J. Fox didn’t slow down, just changed direction. Lori and Reba Schappell, con-joined at the head, enjoy their lives as a computer expert and country singer, respectively. José Feliciano, born blind, says he doesn’t want to see because he’s afraid of what he might see.
So, health isn’t everything; but godliness is. The apostle Paul asked God to remove his “thorn in the flesh,” and wrote, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). In other words, when you have Christ, you have everything!
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