Preventative Medicine

A New “Push”

In recent years, there has been a push among medical professionals upon the idea of “preventative medicine.” In some ways, this idea has been around for some time, such as with the old example of: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” The current idea focuses upon periodic checkups and good health habits as to avoid greater medical problems in the future.

The idea has general merit, especially in regard to good eating habits, exercise, and avoiding toxins that do great damage. There are of course limits to what can be “prevented” – the actual merits of avoiding cancers and other debilitating effects in late life have yet to be proven. Prevention also cannot extend one’s life or defeat death, despite what man might dream.

Our Spiritual Health

While preventative medicine may not always help with the physical body, it can work wonders for one’s spiritual health. Ultimately spiritual health should never be poor, and when we become spiritually sick it is always caused by our own poor choices. We are provided everything necessary for a healthy spiritual life in God (2 Pet. 1:3). But, because of the sinful nature of the world that we live in, should we take such health for granted?

Just as we check on the health of our physical body and take steps to prevent future problems, are there any steps we can take spiritually to ensure our spiritual health? Consider the following:

  • Maintaining a healthy spiritual “diet” which is composed solely of the Word of God (1 Pet. 2:2).

  • Taking a close look at our own spiritual self, looking for any “impurities” or “cancers” that might be a spiritual poison (Mat. 15:17ff).

  • Noting where our feet stand on our spiritual “walk” and if they are pointed in the direction of heaven (Eph. 4:1).

  • Choosing to actively exercise our heart, body, soul, and mind in the service of God (Mat. 22:37; cf. Deu. 6:5).

What is Most Important?

If our physical health is important enough to check on, should our spiritual health not be even more important? It is better to catch spiritual health problems early, or else what will a real spiritual health disaster bring?

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