5 Practical Tips to Walk in Health and Wholeness
Every time I read the book of Genesis, I am amazed by the length of years that our forefathers lived, for they remained healthy and whole for their entire lifetime, with hardly any mention of sickness or dysfunction. However, if we compare it to our lives and age today, we are surrounded by sickness and health irritations from all sides. We can attribute it to a lot of factors, including that the curse is gradually degenerating the world we live in, and that with the modern day technology and unnatural ways of food production and consumption, we are surrounded by huge dangers for our health.
Although we cannot escape all of them, we have to be attentive to what God’s word says about our health. It is one thing to ask God to heal us, and a totally different thing to take His help in trying to prevent health challenges. Here’s a verse that I often confess over my life even as I listen to God’s word, and obey the voice of my spiritual father and other influences that God has placed over my life.
Proverbs 4:20-22: “My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body.”
The primary way to keep nourishing your body and your health is by living in obedience to God! We cannot expect the protection of God if we are not willing to remain in fellowship with Him. We cannot expect to receive His wisdom in the area of our physical health, if we are continually rebelling against spiritual authority and the leaders God has placed over us.
If you have intentionally or unintentionally hurt or rebelled against your leaders or pastors at any given point of time, begin by settling that first. That will never go well for you. There’s no circumstance in which that should work for your benefit! (Hebrews 13:17)
Having laid that foundation, here are few physical things you should be wise about and plan to take care so that your health remains on point to be able to fulfill the purposes of God in this generation!
1. Eat Healthy: Please do understand that I am preaching to myself as I write this. I am constantly at the receiving end of correction from my loving wife and other well meaning friends who advise me on my love for sugar and several junk products. It is good to have those people around you who remind you how important it is to maintain your body – the temple of God – in a healthy and wholesome manner. You should not overdo something, nor should you be malnourished. Seek out help from the people around you and chart out a healthy and balanced diet for yourself – of course catering to your taste buds at the same time. I don’t believe that eating healthy is always distasteful. You can find ways to make the healthy products be tasteful also.
2. Workout Regularly: I cannot overemphasize the need for this in our generation because of being constantly sitting before a screen while working, with hardly any manual labour involved. Your body was made for hard work and there is tremendous capacity that it has to endure working out and building your stamina and some good muscle power. We never know what is in store for us in the days to come with anti Christian agenda and persecution on the rise. There may be some really hard days ahead too, it helps from all angles to be actively working out your body to be able to give your best to God with your physical body. I have often noticed how we struggle to dance and worship God when we are in church or even in private, because we find that so exhausting! Hey, that’s a really good reason for you to start working out, so that you don’t tire yourself worshiping Jesus!!!
3. Sleep on Time: Night was meant for sleep and rest after a long day of labour and working hard. But with the invention of electricity – and thus artificial light, we have found ways to try and make our nights also productive. And we know the results are horrifying. The same body that was supposed to be working in the morning and resting at night, is now working in the morning and at night! How can we expect to have a long life if we continue to do that? Now, I do understand that many of us work in different shifts jobs, and are subjected to their expectations from us. So look for a few things that you could give up on, so that you are able to sleep well on time. This is said of the revivalist Evan Roberts that he wouldn’t sleep because he hardly believed he needed it, which eventually led to his body along with his emotional and mental health burning out and thus causing massive stop to the outpouring that God was using him for. How much more could have been accomplished had he taken this God ordained element of sleep in our lives seriously?
4. Maintain an Organised Schedule: This goes without saying. Organizing and planning your daily, weekly, monthly, and probably even your yearly calendars allows you to work with the correct priorities with the least amount of stress inculcated over your body. This helps you to plan your resources and finances in advance so as to spend wisely and live healthy. Stress in every format, emotional, physical, financial is the biggest cause of health problems in our times. So what can you do to reduce the stress levels? What are some of the responsibilities that could be handed off to someone else? Is there anything you could do to avoid unwanted physical struggle? If yes, then work hard at doing the same.
5. Do not ignore Sabbath: We often ignore it thinking this was Jewish law and was supposed to be kept only in the Old Testament days. There was a reason why God instituted rest. In fact, God Himself (who never gets tired, faints or gets weary) took a sabbath after 6 days of creation! He even ordained rest for the animals belonging to the Israelites and even seasons of sabbath for inanimate things like the land they lived in so it doesn’t get cultivated during the sabbath. How much more is Sabbath or rest important for you? When was the last time you really took a vacation from work? How often do you give time in your organised work week to just be ease and realign your life so God becomes the centre of your life. A regular practice of sabbath will make sure that you live a long and satisfying life.
Above and beyond all this, it is the presence of God living inside of our body that keeps us glowing and growing. Do you make it a practice to walk in His light every day? If no, today is the best day to start or restart the same!
If you do have a health challenge and are praying for a healing, why don’t you WhatsApp us on +918088034774 and we promise to pray for your healing and wholeness along with our entire prayer team here in Bangalore!