Staying Well

            Jesus asked the man at the pool of Bethesda, "Do you want to be made well?"  John 5: 6  Anyone who reads my writing regularly knows that I've written about this verse in the past. Will she ever move on to something else? you may be thinking, but lately this verse has taken on even more significance for me and I feel the need to revisit it.

             Lately, I haven't felt well, and I've been crying out to the Lord, " Yes, I want to be made well! I'm not like that guy by the pool who made excuses for why he'd been by the pool for thirty-eight years and still hadn't been in the healing water. I really do want to be made well!"

            God was good to that man and brought the Living Water, Jesus Christ, to him. God has been good to me and has led me to a wonderful book, Empowering Your Health by the Christian physician, Dr. Asa Andrew, and to an area  physician, Dr. Barbara Davis, who shares Dr. Andrew's ideas about health.  In the book, Andrew explains that whatever food you give your body, that is the material your body uses to make new cells.  Give your body a regular diet of meat, fruit, and vegetables and your body makes cells from it.  Give your body a regular diet of ice cream, potato chips, and fast food and your body makes cells from that, too.  Your body can and will make cells from either kind of food, but it doesn't take a doctor or a scientist to figure out which cells will be the healthier ones.

            Now I don't know about you, but I've come to realize that I think of vegetables as work to be ploughed through, and dessert as the entertainment allowed after my "work" is done!  It's a mindset I'm actively working to change.

            When I was in her office last week, Dr. Davis explained why it's better to eat less processed foods. "In the beginning, the human body was made of earth," she said, "and the closer our foods are to the earth, the better they are for our bodies." That makes so much sense!  I've known for years how I should be eating, but have continued in my broccoli equals work, chocolate ice cream equals entertainment mindset. And then there are the banana split suppers I've justified by focusing on the fruit and calling the ice cream calcium!  Hey, that's healthy, right?  Maybe I'm more like that guy by the pool than I thought. . .

            Then I have to ask myself, do I have the same mindset about spiritual things?  Do I think of reading Scripture, praying, and serving the Lord as the broccoli I'm supposed to eat, and my less "nutritious" pursuits as the entertainment I earn for eating my broccoli?  I'm not saying there's never a time for dessert or entertainment.   What I'm saying is that we are entertaining ourselves to death, both physically and spiritually, and it's time to be honest about that and change our flawed mindsets. 

            Though I've mainly addressed poor food choices here, there are many other poor lifestyle choices that could be addressed.  Food happens to be my current issue.  You know yours.

            Wanting to be made well includes wanting to do what it takes to get well and stay well.  Asking and expecting Jesus to make us physically and spiritually well while not changing our mindset and habits will not keep us well. It's time we get as excited about praying, reading our Bibles and discussing it with friends, and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ as we are about eating that banana split,  watching that new movie, or catching that nice string of small-mouth bass.

            In the temple, after the man had been healed, Jesus warned him, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you." John 5:14

            Do I want to be made well and stay well?  Do you?  Are we willing to change? 

Daye Phillippo