From the Pastor’s Desk
Healed, Healthy, and Happy
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people (Matthew 4:23).
Jesus’ ministry was concerned with healing and with a healthy lifestyle based on the interworking of body, mind, and spirit. The health of one is tied to the others. In The Jesus Prescription for a Healthy Life, Leonard Sweet describes the gospel of Christ as the pathway to both salvation and health, promoting wholeness through healthy relationships between self, God, nature, and each other… that all might work with synergy, without stress. In “synergy”, the combined effect of our work together will be greater than the effect of the separate parts. Does your faith in Christ lead you to health and happiness as well as salvation? The “health model” of discipleship encourages us to take care of body, mind, and spirit: to laugh, spend time with Christian friends, and trust God!
Although we encounter trials and troubles in life, we find in Christ the spirit of joy. Jesus endured the suffering and sorrow of the cross “for the joy set before him” (1 Thessalonians 5:16), that we might find “exceeding joy” (Psalm 43:4)! As we read the gospel stories, we can hear the laughter stirred by the Master’s subtle sense of humor and see the disciples’ knowing smiles as they came to understand him better. In Jesus, all the promises of God are fulfilled. Bible promises – tested and found to be true – assure us that we can place perfect trust in our perfect Lord. When we surrender ourselves to God, we find victory over sin and death and rest for our souls! In The Christian’s Secret to a Happy Life, Hannah Whitall Smith observed that “it is generally much less difficult for us to commit the keeping of our future to the Lord than it is to commit our present.” At least a part of the “secret” is to take our problems to the Lord and leave them there. When we hand him the responsibility, we can leave behind our worry, anxiety, and stress. In perfect peace, we can listen to his instruction and resolve to obey his guiding word.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits – who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases (Psalm 103:2-3). Our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy (Psalm 126:2) …the Joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10).