The Bible and Your Health – Part 2

He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold, and from among their tribes no one faltered. Psalms 105:37

Notice something Israel enjoyed in the wilderness: divine health. Think of the health issues you’d expect among two million people walking through endless desert with no doctor or hospital in sight. Yet from the youngest to the oldest, ‘He…brought them out…and there was none feeble among His tribes.’ That’s because they lived on a diet provided by God Himself. Their troubles began when they complained and wanted to go back to the food they ate as slaves in Egypt. There’s an important lesson here for those who live on fast foods that promote ailments like heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Imagine pouring five pounds of sugar into the fuel tank of your car and complaining that it won’t run properly. Now, when health problems run in your family, or economic circumstances force you to eat less than ideal food, God understands and you can go to Him with confidence, believing, ‘the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up’ (James 5:15). But when the choice is between exercising wisdom in order to have good health or exercising faith in order to be healed, your choice is clear. When Israel entered the Promised Land, God told them, ‘serve the Lord…and He will bless your bread and your water…take sickness away from the midst of you…[and] fulfil the number of your days’ (Exodus 23:25-26).
Then He gave them dietary laws to live by that set them apart from the surrounding nations. Question: How many of us fail to ‘fulfil the number of [our] days’ and the assignment God gives us, because we refuse to exercise discipline when it comes to our diet? Think about it!

Prayer