Hope this finds you well. I am blessed to be here as always.
We have seen so far how we are stewards, and how we absolutely live, move and have our being in God. Everything we have is the Lord's. The jobs we have, the shelter we have, the means to survive, all we get from God. The time, talents, means and health are all blessings from God. We are stewards for all the things God gives us namely:
We have seen how the tithe serves to remind us that God is the source of our well being. Whatever increase we get, we return a portion to Him in acknowledgment of His blessings. The Sabbath is also a portion of our time that we return to God. It is holy time to be spent with Him not only in praising Him for His goodness towards us but also as a symbol of our rest in Him by faith from sin, the daily toils in providing for daily living for He is the provider, and also from trying to work and earn righteousness. It is a testimony of complete rest in God from all these things.
There is one more thing which we are stewards of and that is our health.
Health is a blessing. Without it we are incapable of doing much. All the wealth in the world means nothing without health. All the things we do in life, we are allowed to do them because God would have blessed us with health. We are able to work at our jobs because of health. We are able to enjoy time with family and friends because of it. Without it we lose all these things and life almost comes to a standstill.
Something as important as our health we are also stewards of just as we are stewards of our means, talents and time. We are managers of our health, just as much as we are managers of all these other things. As managers we have a responsibility, and in this case, to manage our health just as much as we manage all these other things.
What makes health especially central in stewardship is because all the other things hang upon health. Without health we are unable to work effectively if at all, so the means we have are directly dependent on it. To have time means that different activities are apportioned to it. If one's health is failing, the number one priority at that point is getting well, there is no time for other things. Talents are unused because one is down healthwise and they might do very little, if at all.
So we see that though health is probably the most neglected of all the different things God has given us to manage, it is actually the most important of all them which is why Paul wrote:
[2] Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 2.
Above all, prosperity in health means prosperity in other things if we recognize our stewardship including health of the soul. God desires that we prosper not only in physical health but also spirtually.
Health, though being the keystone which can enable us to do all these other things is surprisingly neglected. There are many who mistreat their bodies and abuse themselves by not recognizing God's role in their health. They live for themselves and yet expect God to work wonders when they are in need of healing. God is more than powerful enough to heal, but he also requires obedience as is written:
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice 1 Samuel 15:22.
Prevention is better than cure. If you know to do something, it is better to do it than to try and fix it, as is written:
[17] Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. James 4;17.
To manage our bodies is one of the things we are responsible for in this life. We live not for ourselves but we belong to God whether we realize it or not, as it is written:
[20] For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:20.
He bought us with His blood. How can we continue to live for ourselves ignorant of His sacrifice for us? To live for ourselves and to mismanage our health means that we do not acknowledge God not only as the source of our health but also of His sacrifice on our behalf to redeem us with His blood.
By recognizing God as the source of our health and that we are stewards, we cannot continue to live for ourselves as if we are our own but will do our best to manage it, as is written:
[1] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12;1.
Our bodies are not only bought by the price of his blood to redeem us but He has the intention that His Spirit dwell in us as is written:
[16] Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16.
[19] What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
[20] For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.
To mismanage our health is like mismanaging the means He provides for us. Just as we are responsible for the means we have to manage them well, so is our health. You cannot blame another for mismanagement of your own means and the same is true for health.
If you have money and are supposed to use it for paying rent for example, it would be grossly mismanaging it by using it for something like gambling which the Word instructs us not to do. Though God is powerful enough to deliver us from anything, to cry for help to pay for rent when you have used it to gamble is a prayer He would be justified in not answering, lest you do it again as is written:
[3] Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. James 4:3.
We always seek God to deliver us and heal us from the diseases that come along with disobedience when He has instructed us that obedience is better than sacrifice.
The same is true for our health. If our health is that important, it is our responsibility to know how best to manage it. It is our responsibility to learn and inform ourselves of how best to manage it, just as we take the time to learn about other things. We take the time to learn about other things which are nowhere near as important as our health, and yet many are dying everyday because of mismanagement of health, as is written:
[6] My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: Hosea 4:6.
For many it is a lack of knowledge out of willful ignorance. If you intentionally go against what you know you ought to do, you are being willfully ignorant. We indulge in activities that we know will hurt us, and yet we continue to do them anyway. It could be the way we eat, drink, sleep or even engage in activities like casual sex outside of marriage, sometimes with multiple partners. For some, their bellies are their god, as is written:
[19] Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) Philippians 3:19.
There are many who live for the moment and abuse their health and choose to continue this kind of lifestyle though knowing what they ought to do, and yet God to deliver them out of the consequences of their actions at the drop of a hat.
God has promised to bless us with good health, if we are obedient and follow His instructions, as is written:
[26] And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee. Exodus 15:26.
This statement is just as true for us today. If we listen to His instructions and treat our health as an important aspect of our lives as it is, he will bless us with good health. But if we are willfully ignorant and continue to live as if for ourselves, then we will reap what we sow. How can we have good health if we mismanage it?
So let us be faithful stewards my brothers and sisters. Let us recognize God in every aspect of our lives, that in Him we live and move and have our being. Let us recognize that all we have is His, and just as he gives, he can also take away.
Health is a blessing and just as He gives it to us, He can also take it away. If we manage it well, He can bless us with more, and if we mismanage it, he can take it away if He sees fit.
We have seen so far how we are stewards, and how we absolutely live, move and have our being in God. Everything we have is the Lord's. The jobs we have, the shelter we have, the means to survive, all we get from God. The time, talents, means and health are all blessings from God. We are stewards for all the things God gives us namely:
- Means
- Time
- Health
We have seen how the tithe serves to remind us that God is the source of our well being. Whatever increase we get, we return a portion to Him in acknowledgment of His blessings. The Sabbath is also a portion of our time that we return to God. It is holy time to be spent with Him not only in praising Him for His goodness towards us but also as a symbol of our rest in Him by faith from sin, the daily toils in providing for daily living for He is the provider, and also from trying to work and earn righteousness. It is a testimony of complete rest in God from all these things.
There is one more thing which we are stewards of and that is our health.
Health is a blessing. Without it we are incapable of doing much. All the wealth in the world means nothing without health. All the things we do in life, we are allowed to do them because God would have blessed us with health. We are able to work at our jobs because of health. We are able to enjoy time with family and friends because of it. Without it we lose all these things and life almost comes to a standstill.
Something as important as our health we are also stewards of just as we are stewards of our means, talents and time. We are managers of our health, just as much as we are managers of all these other things. As managers we have a responsibility, and in this case, to manage our health just as much as we manage all these other things.
What makes health especially central in stewardship is because all the other things hang upon health. Without health we are unable to work effectively if at all, so the means we have are directly dependent on it. To have time means that different activities are apportioned to it. If one's health is failing, the number one priority at that point is getting well, there is no time for other things. Talents are unused because one is down healthwise and they might do very little, if at all.
So we see that though health is probably the most neglected of all the different things God has given us to manage, it is actually the most important of all them which is why Paul wrote:
[2] Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 2.
Above all, prosperity in health means prosperity in other things if we recognize our stewardship including health of the soul. God desires that we prosper not only in physical health but also spirtually.
Health, though being the keystone which can enable us to do all these other things is surprisingly neglected. There are many who mistreat their bodies and abuse themselves by not recognizing God's role in their health. They live for themselves and yet expect God to work wonders when they are in need of healing. God is more than powerful enough to heal, but he also requires obedience as is written:
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice 1 Samuel 15:22.
Prevention is better than cure. If you know to do something, it is better to do it than to try and fix it, as is written:
[17] Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. James 4;17.
To manage our bodies is one of the things we are responsible for in this life. We live not for ourselves but we belong to God whether we realize it or not, as it is written:
[20] For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:20.
He bought us with His blood. How can we continue to live for ourselves ignorant of His sacrifice for us? To live for ourselves and to mismanage our health means that we do not acknowledge God not only as the source of our health but also of His sacrifice on our behalf to redeem us with His blood.
By recognizing God as the source of our health and that we are stewards, we cannot continue to live for ourselves as if we are our own but will do our best to manage it, as is written:
[1] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12;1.
Our bodies are not only bought by the price of his blood to redeem us but He has the intention that His Spirit dwell in us as is written:
[16] Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16.
[19] What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
[20] For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.
To mismanage our health is like mismanaging the means He provides for us. Just as we are responsible for the means we have to manage them well, so is our health. You cannot blame another for mismanagement of your own means and the same is true for health.
If you have money and are supposed to use it for paying rent for example, it would be grossly mismanaging it by using it for something like gambling which the Word instructs us not to do. Though God is powerful enough to deliver us from anything, to cry for help to pay for rent when you have used it to gamble is a prayer He would be justified in not answering, lest you do it again as is written:
[3] Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. James 4:3.
We always seek God to deliver us and heal us from the diseases that come along with disobedience when He has instructed us that obedience is better than sacrifice.
The same is true for our health. If our health is that important, it is our responsibility to know how best to manage it. It is our responsibility to learn and inform ourselves of how best to manage it, just as we take the time to learn about other things. We take the time to learn about other things which are nowhere near as important as our health, and yet many are dying everyday because of mismanagement of health, as is written:
[6] My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: Hosea 4:6.
For many it is a lack of knowledge out of willful ignorance. If you intentionally go against what you know you ought to do, you are being willfully ignorant. We indulge in activities that we know will hurt us, and yet we continue to do them anyway. It could be the way we eat, drink, sleep or even engage in activities like casual sex outside of marriage, sometimes with multiple partners. For some, their bellies are their god, as is written:
[19] Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) Philippians 3:19.
There are many who live for the moment and abuse their health and choose to continue this kind of lifestyle though knowing what they ought to do, and yet God to deliver them out of the consequences of their actions at the drop of a hat.
God has promised to bless us with good health, if we are obedient and follow His instructions, as is written:
[26] And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee. Exodus 15:26.
This statement is just as true for us today. If we listen to His instructions and treat our health as an important aspect of our lives as it is, he will bless us with good health. But if we are willfully ignorant and continue to live as if for ourselves, then we will reap what we sow. How can we have good health if we mismanage it?
So let us be faithful stewards my brothers and sisters. Let us recognize God in every aspect of our lives, that in Him we live and move and have our being. Let us recognize that all we have is His, and just as he gives, he can also take away.
Health is a blessing and just as He gives it to us, He can also take it away. If we manage it well, He can bless us with more, and if we mismanage it, he can take it away if He sees fit.
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