The Christian and His Health (Guest Post)

Dear reader,

The post you are about to read is a special post turned in by one of our faithful readers. Therefore, it isn’t owned by any of the IPS writers and, as such, cannot be attributed to them, but to the rightful owner (see below for details).

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Health matters have become one of the most trivially treated issues in our society today – especially among young people. The saying ‘health is wealth’ is not just a random saying but a reality.

Health refers to the overall (mental, emotional, physical and psychological) state of the human body. The high rate of mortality, mental and overall breakdown amongst the youth today is alarming. Young people have become vulnerable various kinds of health complications.

What then can we attribute this to?

You must serve only the LORD your God. If you do, I will bless you with food and water, and I will keep you healthy.

Exodus 23:25 (NLT)

Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.

3 John 1:2 (NIV)

Careful study of the Bible will reveal that good health is our inheritance, but then we have to also understand that we’re not robots. We have to put intentionality into living life well.

God has as much interest in our physical health as much as He does our spiritual health. He is willing and able to heal us of all our infirmity and sickness, but the world wasn’t programmed to run on miracles. There are systems God has put in place to help us enjoy life unlimited and we will face certain challenges until we know and enjoy these systems.

Invariably, even as we pay attention to our bodies, we have still a role to play to make sure our spiritual health is sound. It is, more or less, a call to living a balanced life.

Recently I came across an interview with Pastor Mathew Ashimolowo after his 70th birthday celebration (I would never have believed he was close to being 70!) and he was asked the secret behind his healthy and young looks. One of the things he mentioned, asides from God helping him, was the life style he adopted as well as his eating culture.

Consider the society we grew up in; we have adopted certain lifestyles that are detrimental to our health. Some of these habits may not be affecting us now, but they stand pose a challenge (or challenges, as the case may be) to us as we grow older.

Certain habits and practices that we are negligent about or ignorant of have cost us a lot. We pay little or no attention to what we eat. Working in a restaurant, I have studied the eating cycle of people that I think would pose a threat to their health in the long run – or maybe even in the short run.

I began making research about nutrition and have found that God has blessed us with everything we need to living healthy in Nature and systems such as exercising.

In conclusion, protecting our bodies from the intake of harmful and toxic substances, drinking good amount of water daily, getting good sleep, exercising regularly and eating good food (fruits, vegetables and balanced nutrition) are good starts to living healthy.

Living healthy is the least expensive venture. However, considering the habits we’ve built prior to now, we might find it difficult to adapt to this new healthy lifestyle but guess what? You don’t need to be perfect at it immediately. Just keep it going.

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