How Healthy Are We?
The month of April started with a lot of health issues for many of us. Many of us missed the entire gospel meeting because of illness. Even since then, some of us have battled residual health problems, and are gradually returning to feeling “tolerably well.” We agonize about our physical health, and most of us support the medical profession rather handsomely as we seek their expertise, take their prescriptions, and follow what orders they dictate to improve our health. We just don’t want to surrender to the aches and pains, and certainly to the ultimate deterioration of our once very vibrant bodies. No one I know disputes these facts.
But what about our spiritual health? Are we taking it for granted? Let me illustrate with a true story.
As most of you know, I’m not the best speller, and I rarely proofread my typing. If Grammarly and Microsoft Editor don’t catch my mistakes, then my work is published “as is.” Some time ago, I wrote an article that used 1 Timothy 4: 13 – 16 as a text. When I wrote verse fifteen, it came out “Medicate upon these things” instead of “Meditate upon these things.” I never noticed the mistake until a kind lady pointed it out and said, “I never thought of that verse in that way, but thanks for the lesson.” I still think of that every time I read the word “meditate.”
Do we think of the Scriptures as being “medicine” for the soul? Think about it: Who gave us a soul, and how can man’s word benefit that soul? We sing about it: “When my love for Christ grows weak, then for deeper faith I seek.” From where comes our faith? (Romans 10:17). Then consider our spiritual mental health. Paul said, “Let this mind be in your which was in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5) There are now drugs that you can obtain that theoretically improve mental cognition, memory, and such. But they can’t instill in the soul’s mind the word of God. That requires our personal dosage of study. With every aspect of our spiritual well-being, God is the source of our perfection, our strength (1 Peter 5:10).
The soul is like any other object that requires nutrition for life. Feed it properly and it grows properly. Feel it “junk food” and other “party foods” and it soon becomes a flabby mess of weakness and inability. That is contrary to what we must be to please God. Notice these passages: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.: (Ephesians 6:10) “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” (1 Corinthians 16:13) From whence comes that strength? No man-made vitamin will provide it, nor will all the advice of well-meaning minds together provide it. This strength comes from God’s word alone, and our personal imbibing of its greatness!
Weather Changes
Just this past week, April 8, most of us witnessed one of the greatest of God’s creations: the total eclipse of the sun! What a remarkable experience! Nancy and I sat on our front porch with our “special glasses” and watched as the moon passed from right to left in front of the sun. What a brilliant yellow with a definite black “dent” we saw as the path in front of the sun eventually covered the sun’s brightness. Then, for nearly four minutes, darkness was upon us. It was noticeably cooler by some twenty degrees! It was also rather eerie --- we’d never experienced it in our lives! When the light of the sun reappeared, our neighbors' roosters began to crow, and it was as if the morning had just dawned – at 3:09 P.M. What a beautiful, warm day it was to behold this magnificent God-made wonder! But …
Since April 8, we’ve had rain, cold, and even sleet and hail! Winds have increased and one ponders if it’s really springtime. Sure, the grass is growing faster than we can mow, and the flowers are blooming, and even trees are showing their beauty in bloom. Yet, few are as excited about these magnificent changes as they were about the eclipse. I wonder why? Did not God make them all happen?
My point is that so often we take for granted the wonders God gives us. If the weather doesn’t suit us, we complain! But which one of us can change it? No one can increase the temperature or control the rain or the sunshine. My hometown of Marietta, OH recently endured massive flooding. That’s not a new experience for that area; floods have battered that region for at least two centuries of history. While new dams along the Ohio River helped to reduce flooding in recent years, they can’t alleviate the damage. Regardless of what man may say about the weather, no man can change it – it is proof of God’s power over man!
Is it not the same with spiritual matters? Man doesn’t care for what God’s word says, so man complains. But can man change it and still please God? Is man stronger than God that he can change God’s mind? With God’s word settled in heaven (Psalm 1119:89) how can man change what God has said?
Yet, man complains and like the waves of the sea, he is driven and tossed with the winds of falsehood (cf. Ephesians 4:14; James 1:6). His desires are shadowed by the light of God’s word, as man would prefer living in darkness rather than light (John 3:19). Alas, his complaints about the change of spiritual weather (i.e., from living wickedly to being righteous) are never justified: they are only complaints!
We can’t change God any more than we can change the weather! It’s best to accept His unerring beauty via His word and praise Him via our obedience to that glorious truth!