What do you think of when I mention the word ‘health’? What is it that you first think of? For many people the words health or exercise are very positive things, but not for everybody.
Some people think of excuses. Someone has said this. “Every time I think about exercise, I lie down until the thought goes away.” Or what about this one? “I’m not into working out. My philosophy: No pain, no pain.” Those comments are just a fraction of the kind of excuses that people have for not making healthy lifestyle choices. Even many Christians downplay the need for paying attention to their health. But the Bible has a lot of things to say about health.
Solomon’s Proverbs, in fact, lead us to a hugely important truth about health. And I’d like to invite you to open your Bibles to the book of Proverbs, and keep them open as we go through several health smart proverbs today.
And if you don’t mind writing in your Bibles, I invite you to underline those words or phrases that mention something about health. Or at least write down the references. So get out your pens or pencils and let’s get going.
And the first text we’re going to look at is Proverbs, chapter 3. We’ll look at chapter 3 and verses 1 and 2. "My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you."
All right, now what are the good results for right choices here? It says several things. Well, it mentions “length of days” and then it also mentions “long life”. And then it also mentions “peace”, which would mean a good mental state, a positive outlook.
Now let’s read verses 7 and 8. Proverbs, chapter 3, verses 7 and 8. "Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your”, the King James Version says “navel”. Other versions say “health to your flesh, and strength to your bones."
So the good results here? A couple of things. First off, according to the New King James Version, “Health to your flesh.” And then also, “strength to your bones.”
Now let’s go to chapter 4. Proverbs, chapter 4 and verses 20 through 22. It says, "My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh." So here it lists the good results; “life” and “health to their flesh.” “Life” must refer to a high quality of life, not just length of one’s life. And then “health to their flesh” must mean a healthy body.
Now let’s go to chapter 12, and look at verse 18. Proverbs 12, and then verse 18. "There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health." So obviously, the good result here would be health, or good health. And I might add, not only your health, but also those who live the most closely to you.
And, of course, it should be obvious by now that we’re seeing a very clear pattern.
Let’s go to chapter 14, and look at verse 30. Chapter 14, verse 30. A short verse here. It says, "A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones." Two good results then are “life to the body”, and then the opposite of rottenness to the bones would be “no rottenness to the bones”. You don’t want to have rotten bones, that’s for sure.
And then let’s look at chapter 15, and verse 30. It says, "The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and a good report makes the bones healthy." This good result, healthy bones, come up quite frequently, doesn’t it? It’s an ancient treatment for the prevention of osteoporosis. So there you have it.
Now let’s look at chapter 16, verse 24. "Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones." Here again, the good result. Healthy bones. It’s a major concern of Solomon’s, obviously, as we’ve sampled these Bible texts.
Now let’s go to chapter 17, verse 22. "A merry heart does good, like medicine; but a broken spirit dries the bones." So the good result here would be no dry bones. Now, I’m not sure what dry bones would look like, but the message is that of strength and health and well-being. That’s what it’s talking to us about.
In fact, another Bible version here, The Good News Bible, says this. "Being cheerful keeps you healthy. It is slow death to be gloomy all the time." How many of you want a slow death? Raise your hands. Nobody?! Ok.
Now let me ask you this. Do you notice a theme here? It looks clear to me that these texts are telling us that, first off, God’s wisdom is good for us; if we follow it. It means trusting in God is good for us, and making sound moral and ethical decisions is good for us. And I love that because it means that we have a God who is not arbitrary. He gives us commands that make sense. And since we live in a real world created by a real God, there are very real, positive effects and results that come from following God’s wisdom. Don’t you love that?
In fact, throughout Proverbs, as we’ve seen, Solomon is quite liberally hinting at an amazing truth. And the message is this. That there is a connection between the mind and the body. Mental and physical health are closely connected with each other. I didn’t make that up. You’ve seen it for yourself. It’s right there in the book of Proverbs. Our physical well-being is influenced by the choices that we make here in our mind; spiritually, morally and ethically.
Let me give you an example of this.
In his book about the essentials for being highly healthy people, Dr. Walt Larimore tells about a patient of his. A young woman had been a patient of his in his medical practice for several years. She had emotional and relational problems that spilled over into physical distress for her life. He wrote about her, “She was a classic neurotic at the age of fifteen!” Over the years that he had been her doctor, he tried to encourage her to develop some type of spiritual life, even though she didn’t seem to be open to it.
After she left home for college, he didn’t see her or hear from her until he got an e-mail from her. In that message, she told him that she’d been following his advice, in general, on nutrition and exercise and sleep. And, just as importantly, she had begun a personal relationship with God. And this is what she said. “Putting God at the center of my life has put everything in balance. I feel like a new me!” So her life and her physical health were no longer in distress.
Perhaps you’ve heard of Norman Cousins, the well-known author of the book, Anatomy of an Illness. Norman was suffering from a painful condition that was regarded as incurable. He discovered, however, that after just 15 minutes of solid belly laughter that he would have two hours of pain-free sleep. And so that became part of his healing therapy. He prescribed laughter for himself. And he went on to experience complete healing.
According to one book, humor and laughter can “activate the body’s natural pain-control mechanisms that release . . . powerful opiate-like neurochemicals produced by the brain.” I won’t expect you to remember that, but just remember that laughing and humor can “energize and activate your healing system.” Those are just a few examples, in people’s lives, of this mind/body connection. So what we choose to think in our minds influences the state of our health.
Which means this amazing truth. That the mind affects the body.
But let me ask you a question. Can it work the other way around? If there’s a mind/body connection, and the mind influences the body, can the body affect the mind? In other words, could what goes on in the body affect the ability of our minds to think clearly? That’s true. It really is true.
Good health can impact how we think and make us better able to understand God’s Word. So won’t we want to practice a lifestyle that makes our bodies healthy, so that our minds can be in the best shape?
If you want a classic illustration of this in the Bible, read the book of Daniel for the account of Daniel and his three friends, in the first chapter. They determined that they were not going to defile themselves with the rich food and wine that they were given to eat by the king. And so Daniel talked to the officer in charge who was worried that this variation from the king’s orders would get him into trouble.
So Daniel made a proposal. “Test your servants for ten days,” he said. “Give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. And then compare our appearance and the appearance of those who eat the king’s food.”
Well, that seemed like a fair idea, so that’s what happened. And at the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and stronger than all those who had been eating the king’s unhealthy diet of concentrated animal fat and protein. Hmm. Could that have been the ancient preview of the Atkins diet? Well, maybe. But anyway…
And so, because of their trust in God and because of their healthy lifestyle, their minds were clearer. And at the end of their training, the Bible says that they were tested and King Nebuchadnezzar found them to be ten times better than all the other wise men in all matters of wisdom and understanding. Ten times better!
Did their trust in God have a part in that? Oh, yes. Did their healthy choices have a part in that? Definitely! That story in the Bible tells us that we can live to our fullest and up to our best capabilities by having the best diet and paying attention to other health needs.
And that brings us to a very important implication. I don’t want you to miss this.
First off, it’s wonderful to pray for good health. Right?
Why else would the apostle John write as he did, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers”? But I have a question for you. Doesn’t God want us to do something about that? Just because you may have everything together in the spiritual realm of your life, it doesn’t make sense to automatically expect physical health if we have poor lifestyle choices. Ummm. That would be, to put it quite plainly… stupid. Well, ok. Would you pray at mealtimes for God to bless that which He has cursed and still expect Him to give you good health? That’s like kneeling down in the middle of a highway and asking God to keep you from getting run over. It’s not recognizing that we live in a real world, with real consequences for our actions. We have a real God who is not arbitrary and He says to us, “I will answer your prayers by giving you wisdom to change your choices, and that’s how I will give you safety and health.”
So being Heart-Smart for Life means cooperating with God in all areas of our lives. You’ve noticed that in the Bible, our bodies are compared to a physical structure like that of a house or a temple. That means we should be careful with what we do with our bodies. We should take care of them because our bodies are temples, for what? The Holy Spirit.
So, this question. Do you take care of your temple?
An elderly carpenter was getting ready to retire. And he told his employer-contractor of his plans. He wanted to leave the house-building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could just build one more house as a personal favor.
The carpenter said, “Yes,” but in time it was easy to see that his heart was just not in the work. And he resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials.
When the carpenter finished building the house and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to this master carpenter. “This is your house,” he said. “It’s my gift to you.”
If he had only known that he was building his own house, he might have done things very differently.
Now, I recognize that because we live in a sinful world we don’t have control over everything that we may experience. I grant you that. But we do control many things. And our lifestyle is one of those things. With our lifestyle choices, we can choose to build a healthier temple for the Holy Spirit.
And that is a fitting symbol, really, for everything, I believe, that Solomon teaches us in the wisdom literature of the Bible. I think it sums up everything that we’ve talked about in this sermon series. We can build better lives by following God’s wisdom in all areas, with His help.
So let’s build better health, and better finances, and better spiritual lives, and better families, and better relationships. And while we’re at it, let’s build a better church family.
We can do those things by following God’s wisdom. But you might ask this question. How can I follow God’s wisdom?
Number 1. Read God’s Word! It doesn’t get any simpler than that. Take the time, or make the time, whatever you need to. Never stop learning God’s wisdom.
And number 2. Practice what you know to be right. Make a plan to do it. Change your habits. Change your environment, or something. Do whatever is necessary. One helpful tool might be to come to the upcoming CHIP seminar that we’re doing in this church. Sign up for it. Or buy the book called Eat To Live. Wonderful book. Eat To Live.
And number 3. Learn from your mistakes. That’s what separates the wise from the unwise.
And number 4. Guard your spiritual and physical health. Those are the only real treasures that we have. If we lose those things, all the money in the world cannot help us.
So let’s choose to be healthy and wise and God’s people. All the way. And let’s sing our closing song, hymn number 3 hundred 8.
Hymn of Praise: #26, Praise The Lord Scripture: Proverbs 3:7-8 Hymn of Response: #308, Wholly Thine
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McDonald Road Sermon transcribed by Steve Foster 10/2/07