Total Well Being

UV 1725/10000 Total Well Being
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
3 John 1 v 2
This uni-verse contains a blessing of material prosperity, physical, emotional and intellectual health and spiritual prosperity. We need to desire this triune blessing of spirit, mind and body for ourselves and those we love, lead or minister to. The world is obsessed with monetary or material prosperity but our spiritual prosperity and our complete health is far more vital. In order that our souls or spirits prosper, we need to walk in continual fellowship with the Holy Spirit, study and apply the Word in the details of our lives, pray continually, have fellowship with other fellow believers, be a witness to the unbelievers and worship the Lord in spirit and in truth and in the beauty of holiness. Our faith which is the root should produce both hope and the fruits of love in all its dimensions in our lives. The sign of spiritual prosperity is that we abound in the spiritual fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. A bone that is dry and lifeless has no marrow. To extend that biblical metaphor, our spiritual bones or the foundations of our lives are full of the marrow of hope. It will light the flame of hope in the hearts of all those we come in contact with or the Lord brings our way in the course of our lives. The world sticks to us like a leech sucking our lifeblood. The only thing that causes a leech to let go of a person’s skin is salt. The Word is the salt that deals with the leech of the world. We need to apply the Word constantly to be freed from the clutches or blood sucking tentacles of the world and its ways.
Holistic health is also of far greater value than monetary or material wealth. Sickness was a curse that sin had brought into the world. The power of sickness and disease is broken by the sacrifice of Jesus since His death paid for all sins of all mankind. Our faith in His death and resurrection gives us the authority as children of God to command sickness and disease to be healed. Good health is a most valuable blessing and we need to thank the Lord every day for the health of every organ in our bodies as well as our total health. We cannot take it for granted or wait till we fall sick to pray for healing. We need to tap the power of prophylactic prayer to prevent the ailments that are both common or uncommon and to claim health ahead of time.
Material or monetary prosperity comes only third in the order of priorities after spiritual prosperity and total health. Money is a good servant but a bad master of our lives. We should never be moved to do things out of love of money. It should be treated as a means of serving the Lord and meeting our needs. We need to be diligent stewards of money in saving enough as the Lord exhorts us to learn from the tiny “Joseph” ants who store grain in times of plenty in order to be meet their needs in times of shortage or famine. We need to invest money in productive channels that will multiply over time so that we have enough for our needs as well as enough to give to others in need. If we seek spiritual prosperity and cherish our total health, monetary or material prosperity will be added to us by the Lord in whose realm the footpaths are made of gold. The metaphoric meaning of golden footpaths is that we should not be lovers of wealth and its by -products but treat it as something we stand and walk on to reach the goals the Lord has set before us and fulfil His purpose in our lives. The world tries to find paths that lead to gold but we are given golden footpaths that lead to God.

Prateep V Philip