Proverbs 3:7-8
“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.“
In a world where working out and adopting various diets or appetite suppressants are very popular, the Bible offers some interesting spiritual ways to achieve a healthy body.
In the book of Psalms 107:37, we see God’s preservation of His people when, after many years of horrific slavery, God restored the health and strength of the Israelites during their exodus from Egypt. The Bible describes their health as such that there was not one feeble person among their tribes.
Imagine enduring the suffering of slavery for generations and then departing Egypt, trekking across the Red Sea, to Mount Sinai. Then, on through the wilderness of Kadesh-Barnea, wandering 40 years to the Plains of Moab. Then, later, crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land of Canaan. I’d say God preserved them well.
In Proverbs 3:7-8, we are shown three ways to achieve good health. We are told not to be wise in our own eyes, to fear the Lord, and to shun evil. Being wise in our own eyes means we lean on our own understanding and rely on our own knowledge, rather than seeking the Lord’s. We view fulfilling our desires and needs through our own perceptions, despite the Bible’s. We place a higher value on the wisdom of men than on God’s wisdom, choosing human knowledge instead of God’s kingdom provisions or remedies.
Fearing the Lord involves reverencing, honoring, and trusting His words; holding Him in higher esteem than ourselves; and relying on His wisdom in any situation. As regards evil, shunning it means turning from, avoiding, or rejecting it. We don’t embrace it as only human or natural, but as satanic and not for the Body of Christ. Amazingly, these behaviors actually bring health to our bodies and nourishment to our bones. We want healthy bones as they are the skeletal system that holds our bodies intact.
Proverbs 4:20-22 encourages us to pay attention to God’s wisdom, keeping His words in our hearts, not letting them out of our sight. This is crucial to our well-being as God’s words are “life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body.”
These are some important instructions to remember, though there are others like Proverbs 17:22, which tells us “a cheerful heart is good medicine…”. Not to mention Proverbs 14:30 that says “a heart at peace gives life to the body…”. How awesome are these words to aid in being healthy? I’m aiming to apply these as a first priority, yet not forgetting the value of some natural ways.
Ms. Rita's Minute 