Tag Archives: Health

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Numbers 19

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“Anything the ritually unclean man touches becomes unclean, and the person who touches what he touched is unclean until evening.” Numbers 19:22 (MSG)

“Wash your hands,” we are told incessantly from the time we are young children. We are told to do it before we eat, after being outside, when we’ve been around someone who is sick, and when we are preparing food. It’s a matter of hygiene, but even the most menial of daily tasks carries with it a spiritual word picture.

Things that make us sick, both physically and spiritually, have a tendency to spread their ill effects. We can either become fanatical about avoiding anything that might make us dirty, or we can learn the self-discipline of washing ourselves of those things which may make us sick.

Throughout God’s message, water is used a physical word picture of spiritual cleansing.

  • God cleansed the earth with a flood.
  • Israel walked through the water of the Red Sea when escaping Egypt, and then those who enslaved them were washed away in the waters.
  • Ritual cleansing and washing was prescribed in the laws of Moses for anything that made people “unclean” both physically and spiritually.
  • Jonah tried to rebel by escaping God’s call over water, then was carried through the deep to the place of obedience.
  • Baptism, literally defined as plunging forcefully, is prescribed as a public sign of their spiritual transformation for anyone who has cleansed their hearts by placing their faith in Him.

Jesus washed His followers’ feet, then told them to do the same for one another. The word picture is clear. We are expected to follow Jesus’ example. We are to walk through this world and actively love others in tangible ways. The journey carries us through some dark and dirty places. It is important that we are regularly cleansed and refreshed by one another. Otherwise, the dirt may pile up and have gravely ill effects.

Today, as I wash my hands, I’m reminded of the deeper meaning of being cleansed.

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Leviticus 23

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“Work six days. The seventh day is a Sabbath, a day of total and complete rest, a sacred assembly. Don’t do any work. Wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to God.” Leviticus 23:3 (MSG)

I like to think that I’m the Energizer bunny. I want to think that I can keep going, and going, and going, and going. The reality is that every one of us runs on rechargeable human batteries. We can go all day, but our bodies, our brains, and our souls need sleep before we face another day.

God is a God of creative labor. God is a God of redemptive work. Today’s chapter also reminds me that God is a God of rest, and we are a creative reflection of God even in our need of it. Resting for our individual health, the health of our household, the health of our families, and the health of our community requires regular periods of rest. Each day requires a certain number of hours of rest and sleep. God also designed that we should have regular day of rest woven into our week. Regular weeks of extended rest were woven into the year. There were even prescribed years of rest woven into the fabric of time. God’s message is clear: we need rest.

Today I’m in self-examination mode. I want to works hard and enjoy the fruit of my labor, but I also want to rest regularly and rest well that I might enjoy Life abundantly.

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Leviticus 11

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“These are the instructions on animals, birds, fish, and creatures that crawl on the ground. You have to distinguish between the ritually unclean and the clean, between living creatures that can be eaten and those that cannot be eaten.” Leviticus 11:46-47 (MSG)

Last week Wendy and I were talking to the mother of a young toddler. She commented on the fact that her daughter, like most children that age, will put anything in her mouth. She said that she and her husband and been doing yard work with their little one playing around them. Before they knew it, their little one had streaks of dark brown mud running in streaks down the corners of her mouth. She’d attempted to eat her first mud pie.

When children are small, we do a lot of rule making.

  • “Don’t eat that, it’s dirty.”
  • “Don’t touch that. It will hurt you.”
  • “NO! That’s not good for you.”
  • “Did you touch that? Go wash you hands.”
  • “Wash your hands before supper.”
  • “There will be NO dessert until all of your peas are gone!”

Throughout the book of Leviticus, when I read the list of do’s and don’ts I hear the voice of a parent setting boundaries for their children. Some of them are no brainers. Some leave me scratching my head. Then again, so did some of the rules handed down in my house growing up.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Matthew 15

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He then called the crowd together and said, “Listen, and take this to heart. It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life, but what you vomit up.” Matthew 15:10-11 (MSG)

I’ve watched with interest the growing craze for natural, organic, and healthy foods. Even companies who make relatively unhealthy foods have their marketing departments working overtime to find ways to tout what little health benefit their product has in it. The cereal aisle, in particular, always makes me chuckle. All of these sugary, chemically infused breakfast foods touting how much Niacin you get in every box.

I think that eating healthy is a good thing. Nevertheless, I thought Jesus’ admonition in today’s chapter was an interesting one. You can eat all of the healthiest, most organically grown natural foods that you can find – but it won’t change a spotted soul. The true test of our soul’s health is not what we put into our mouths and bodies, but what comes out of our mouths and lives.

If what comes out of our mouths is anger, malice, selfishness, jealousy, slander, profanity, criticism, and judgement – then perhaps we should worry less about the health of our bodies and worry more about the health of our souls.

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Jeremiah 1

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“Before I shaped you in the womb,
   I knew all about you.
Before you saw the light of day,
   I had holy plans for you:
A prophet to the nations—
   that’s what I had in mind for you.”
Jeremiah 1:5 (MSG)

A friend called and left a message on my phone yesterday. The words were a typical voice mail message, but the tone of my friend’s voice said something completely different:

  • “I’m down“
  • “I’m tired“
  • “The weight of the world is on my shoulders“

When I finally spoke to my friend in person, I discovered the reason for his depressed tone. He fiinds himself walking a leg of the journey that has suddenly become difficult with an overload of cares. Over a few short days his financial stress, work stress and relational stress have skyrocketed from normal to off the charts difficult.

As we talked it through, we came to the same conclusion from our previous experiences. These perfect storms of life are cyclical. We all encounter these times in the journey when seemingly everything goes wrong at once. We get through them. The momentary circumstances change, and the seemingly unmanageable stress of the moment fades.

Perspective is a good thing. Big picture helps put our temporary tunnel vision in perspective. Today I’m reminded that God knew us before we were a glint in our parents’ eyes. He has a master plan for our entire journey.

Don’t get tripped up by the tough road you’re walking today. Look out at the horizon. Press on.

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Luke 18

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Then [Jesus] said, “Do you hear what that judge, corrupt as he is, is saying? So what makes you think God won’t step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help?” Luke 18:6 (MSG)

‘I am going to make for the Bucklebury Ferry as quickly as possible. I am not going out of the way, back to the road we left last night: I am going to cut straight across country from here.’

‘Then you are going to fly,’ said Pippin. ‘You won’t cut straight on foot anywhere in this country.’

‘We can cut straighter than the road anyway,’ answered Frodo. ‘We could save a quarter of the distance if we made a line for the Ferry from where we stand.’

‘Short cuts make long delays,’ argued Pippin.

Today’s chapter reminds me that there is a holy timing within the journey. I must confess that I get tired of the long road. I tire of asking “are we there yet, God?” Crying out makes me weary.

Patience is really hard for me, so like Frodo I’ve often attempted shortcuts in life to quickly get to where (or what) I want. Yet, when I look back at shortcuts and snap decisions intended to get what I wanted in the moment I wanted it, I inevitably learned Pippin’s wisdom the hard way.

Today, I’m once again reminded to trust God’s timing. I feel the frustrating encouragement to keep asking, seeking, and knocking. I am called to keep crying out.

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