“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.” 3 John 1:2
“Worship the Lord your
God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take
away sickness from among you,” Exodus 23:25
“Praise the Lord, my
soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives
all your sins and heals all your diseases,” Psalm 103:2-3
“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.
His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this
man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said
Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed
in him.” John 9:1-3
Leviticus 11:47
“You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean,
between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.”
Can you imagine clean and unclean food today?
Read John 4:4-10
Jesus as a
human being suffered fatigue and thirst. He stopped at a well to rest and a woman came to draw water. Jesus
offered her the opportunity to serve the noblest man in the world history. He
simply asked her a little water. Jesus teaches us to drink water asking for
it. But at the same time He calls Himself Living Water. Not by chance. Water
seems something so simple. When fresh and clear it has no calories, no taste,
no smell, no color ... Generally we consider it something so common that we do not consume
it the way we should. But when we do not have access to it, we do not stop to think about how to get a huge
glass of water. Our body is composed of 70% water. We can survive up to 80 days
without food, but without water we cannot resist more than 3 days. That's why
Jesus is called Living Water. Water is essential to our lives. So every time
you take water enjoy this act to remind yourself of the Living Water and how would
your life would be barren without Him.
The
main lesson from the Bible about physical cleanliness appears in Leviticus
11-15. Laws about leprosy, mold, sexual contact between men and women,
childbirth, postpartum, menses... Some of the rules may seem strange and hard
for us. However, our current knowledge of how many diseases are transmitted
shows that these rules are very sensible.
Think about:
•
What responsibility do we have to ensure that everyone has adequate sanitation
today? Physical cleanliness is linked to moral holiness.
•
How do our sanitation practices and
personal hygiene show that we care about our health and the health of our
families?
•
How does the way we live make others suffer illness because of the lack of
hygiene in and around our homes? (Dengue)
•
What is the impact we have on the lives of others by the way we live and by our
hygiene practices?
•
How can we ensure that we take into account the interests of others, in terms
of hygiene and cultural practices in the first place?
• Are we putting others at risk because of our own lack of hygiene?
Philippians 2:4: "not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."
In 1 Timothy 4:8 : “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.”
In biblical times physical
activity was very present in daily life through planting, harvesting, grazing
animals, fishing, hunting, training soldiers, the great hiking and so on. It
was a very different environment from today, where in large urban centers
dominate activities that require little exercises of our bodies. A life without
regular physical activity can promote serious health problems.
Since it is not overdone, and the health care and the spiritual activities are not
neglected, physical activity will be a blessing for the Christian life. The
health care of the body is part of Christian stewardship.
1 Corinthians 10:31: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
•
Faith
helped prevent heart disease.
•
The
practice of prayer reduces by 40% the risk of a person developing hypertension
•
People
praying have an improvement in all their cardiovascular parameters.
•
According
to experts, faith also brings benefit to the treatment of other types of
disease, to the most serious, such as AIDS.
1 Thessalonians 5:17: "Pray continually"
• Constant practice of fasting
generates new brain cells - more
resistant to stress, protecting the brain from diseases like Parkinson's and
Alzheimer's and stroke.
• The high levels of insulin, in
turn, are associated with a decreased brain function and increased risk of
diabetes.
• Other benefits include improving
fasting glucose regulation, which protects the body against diabetes, and lower
blood pressure.
• Other benefit would be an
increased resistance against asthma.
Read Daniel 1:12-17
• Exodus
20:8-10: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it
holy. Six
days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or
daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner
residing in your towns.”
• Psalm 127:2: “In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he
grants sleep to those he loves.”
• Does my attitude affect my
health? Proverbs 17:22: “A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
• Do not let the stress of external
circumstances cause internal stress. Philippians 4:6-7: “Do
not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus.”
Let us ask the Lord for helping us to make the right choices also in the care of our health!
Ana.
