Your health and welfare

All photos courtesy of Unsplash 

Sometimes when I sit down to write this column, I find that 101 things fill my mind, and I can’t quite focus on writing. Life is busy, and we often lose our focus because we have so many things bouncing about in our heads. 

There is a little statement in the book of Psalms, and it says this ‘Be still, and know that I am God,’ Psalm 46:10. Stillness is something that many of us crave and that most of us find very difficult to achieve. It is possible to be so preoccupied with living that we forget what life is really about.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ was very aware of this, and so he would on occasion call his disciples to take a break from the busyness of life and come aside and rest for a while. So, therefore, I want to invite you as you read this article to put aside anything that will distract you and come apart from the busyness of your life and reflect, rest, and consider this most important matter of your personal welfare. 

I am, in effect, asking you to stand back and to consider your life. In the Bible, the question is asked, ‘What is your life?’. The answer that is given is it’s like a vapour that appears for a little while and then very quickly disappears. Our lives are very brief and transient, but everyone wants a rich and fulfilled life. But how do you define a rich and fulfilled life? One day the Lord Jesus defined life as he warned people about the danger of greed and covetousness. He said to watch out and guard against all greed because the value of your life is not measured by how much you own. Meaning in life is not derived from the things you have, but from the person you are. Your character and experience in life are of more value than the things that you have accumulated. Sadly, the reality is that we often feel that we are not as rich in character as we would like to be. I wonder why that is? Why is it that every human being feels flawed and vulnerable and, at times, very empty? May I suggest that this is because we were all born with a defective character (the Bible calls it a sinful nature), and as a result, we are incapable of living up to the standards that we know are right?

 

The answer to this dilemma is found through faith in one person. Jesus Christ transformed the world we live in, and through Him, His death, burial, and resurrection, God offers every human being a new beginning, a fresh start, eternal life.

 

I close with the words John’s Gospel chapter 3 – ‘For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God’.

 

I hope that you are as interested in your health and welfare as God is.