HEALTH AND GODLINESS

SỨC KHỎE VÀ SỰ TIN KÍNH

Kinh thánh: Xuất Ê-díp-tô ký 15: 22-27

Câu gốc: GIA-CƠ 5: 15 – Sự cầu nguyện bởi đức tin sẽ cứu kẻ bịnh, Chúa sẽ đỡ kẻ ấy dậy; nếu kẻ bịnh có phạm tội, cũng sẽ được tha.

*******

HEALTH AND GODLINESS

Bible: Exodus 15: 22-27

Main verse: JAMES 5: 15 – And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

*******

In this verse, the Bible lets us know that one of the secrets that can help us be healed from sickness is our faith in Jesus Christ. The healing can happen both in our spiritual and physical lives. According to the Bible, we can be saved and inherit eternal life by having faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. We Christians can please God by trying to live according to His standards in the Bible.

COLOSSIANS 2: 12 – Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, Who hath raised Him from the dead.

HEBREWS 11: 6 – But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

JAMES 5: 15 – And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

We will use some verses in the Bible to demonstrate the relation between God and human health. To begin, we should know that sickness occurs because of two reasons: first, because of the sins that mankind has committed. God wants to remind humans of their sins, and at the same time, use them as punishment for committing sin.

Secondly, sickness happens because God wants to use it to teach humans to live morally according to God’ standards and to rely on Him for their blessings. Even those who love God like Paul still fell sick in order to make him understand God’s grace.

2CORINTHIANS 12: 7-9 – And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Whenever humans sin, diseases occurs, and whenever they live a morally correct life, diseases decreased. Nowadays, as humans have committed more sins, health experts has discovered new viruses and diseases. There was a man who was diagnosed with a virus called Naegleria fowleri, which is a brain-eating amoeba. It’s a rare sickness that only happened to a few people. There were about 145 cases in America alone and most of them died, only 4 survived. Another example is AIDS, the disease that was first found in the 1980s.

Present statistics shows that cancer has surpassed heart disease as the primary killer in the world. Experts think there is a link between using low-quality plastic containers to store or transport hot food and cancer. Chemicals in food processing and consumption has also lead to many cases of cancer.

In the Bible, when we study it thoroughly, we will see many benefits of applying God’s commands in our everyday life. For example, cleaning our bodies in running water.

LEVITICUS 15: 13 – And when he that hath an issue is cleansed of his issue; then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.

The Bible also tells us to avoid stress in order to have a healthy life. When we are happy with God, we will be able to eliminate stress from our mind and bodies.

PHILIPPIANS 4: 4 – Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.

Stress is a part of human lives. Evidence accumulates that there is some link between stress and developing cancer. If stress decreases the body’s ability to fight its diseases, it loses the ability to kill cancer cells.

Everyday, our bodies are exposed to cancer-causing agents in the air, food and even in the water. Our immune system does recognize those abnormal cells and kills them before they produce a tumor. Research has shown that stress can lower the body’s ability to do just that, according to Dr. Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D., assistant professor of behavioral sciences at the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Part of the reason stress may be linked to cancer is probably because when people are under pressure, they make poor choices. They begin smoking, stop exercising, and start eating unhealthy foods, which just happened to be some of the factors that are also linked to cancer (Stress: A Cause of Cancer? by By Lisa Hurt Kozarovich).

God wants us to be healthy both in our spiritual and physical lives, so He has given many commands in His book in order for us to achieve and retain a healthy body and mind. One of those commands was written in Peter’s first letter:

1PETER 5: 7 – Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

That’s why we Christians should maintain our communication with God through prayers and live accordingly so that we can have His blessing.

We can see the benefits in obeying God’s commands, so let encourage each other to adopt a lifestyle God wants us to have, because it’s beneficial to us.

May God help us to understand His words much more, so that we can see His love displaying clearly in every verse in the Bible, and that we will be eager to follow in order to gain blessings from Him for ourselves, our families and for our church. Amen.