This verse has deep Spiritual meaning, referring ultimately to the atonement through the blood of Jesus. But all Scripture has practical and spiritual application for our lives. Remember, God did not just put us here to fend for ourselves - He made provisions for our spirit and our flesh!
If the key to life is in the blood, it makes sense that keeping our bloodstream pure, clean, and healthy would be of utmost importance.
In her book, Greater Health God's Way, author Stormie Omartian, outlines Seven Steps To Greater Health. Each of her steps serves to contribute to a clean, healthy bloodstream and a system that functions well in all areas:
1. Peaceful living
2. Pure food
3. Proper exercise
4. Plenty of water
5. Prayer and fasting
6. Periods of fresh air and sunshine
7. Perfect rest
Seven simple steps.
But, God's ways are always simple. Man ends up complicating everything. The Lord's ways are balanced and perfect. But man, left to himself, knows no balance. So, although these Seven Steps to Greater Health sound simple and straight-forward, if we practice a couple of them to the extreme or even ignore one of them, we could make problems for ourselves. The key, as with everything, is balance.
Omartian believes these steps are interrelated and interdependent. She goes on to say that we can't properly follow one step without observing all the others. She has numbered them in order from one to seven for a reason. Peaceful living, the first step, is the fountainhead from which all health flows. Perfect rest, the last step, occurs naturally after all the others are in place. Between steps one and seven there is a natural progression as each step prepares the way for the other. These steps are a consistent, reliable, preventative way of living that promotes good health.
In Hosea 4:6, the Bible says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." How true that is, especially in today's world! Sickness and premature death are common, because we do not have knowledge, or follow, the Lord's ways. I agree with Omartian's view that our society is living very far from the way God intended us to, in all aspects - health, spiritually, morally. There are so many people struggling with pain, sickness, headaches, heart attacks, mental illness, or just plain lack of joy. Many are suffering a great deal.
In his book Back to Eden, Jethro Kloss writes, "Man does not go astray from nature because he lacks intelligence or instinct, but because he wishes to gratify his own desires."
Is this the reason man strayed from God's ways of health in the first place? We wanted to gratify our own desires. We know that humans naturally desire to gratify our flesh. Some of us have never been taught God's ways and we certainly don't see them prevalent in our world today. Every year the world gets farther and farther away from how God intended us to live!
In her book, Storimie Omartian also tells of one instance when she heard a lady zealously say to her child, "No! You cannot have any more carrots until you finish your hot dog and chips!"
Omartian goes on to describe how she felt this woman was simply ignorant of the right way, God's Way.
We all have inner knowledge [or that "voice"] that shows us the way, but a lot of the time we'd rather ignore it and lean on our own understanding.
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.' Isaiah 30:21
Of course, it is not good to be pre-occupied or consumed with our bodies, but it is certainly wise to value the temple that God has given each of us.
The Holy Spirit of God dwells in and works through our wonderful bodies!
How are we treating our temples? Are we feeding them poorly, never exercising, staying indoors away from fresh air, filling them with poisons - of unforgiveness, bitterness and even toxic food, never giving them rest, and then criticizing our bodies body because they doesn't look good and never do what we want?
We must each make our mind up to respect, love, and appreciate the bodies God has given us, no matter what shape they are in at the moment.
"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:14
Your body is a tool of the Lord. Can you serve Him best when you are sick, or when you are healthy? Our physical condition can influence our spiritual lives more than we realize! If we are disciplined in the care of our physical bodies, then we are likely to be disciplined in our spiritual lives too.
Give your body to the Lord as "a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God." Romans 12:1
Excerpt/article taken from forward: Greater Health God's Way by Stormie Omartian. Copyright 1996 by Harvest House Publishers
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