Proverbs 3:7-8
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.
Truth: God's Word and the Fear of the Lord produce spiritual and physical blessings. People tend to go to pastors, priests and//or church for spiritual needs and to the doctors and hospitals for the physical needs. What if the two were mutually inclusive? What if you could go to the church and know that your body of flesh would be better? We don't like to think this way because it sounds "super-spiritual" or "fringe faith" behavior. However, note the above proverb and how it applies to this arena of thought. God is the source of life and love for all things. It only goes to show that if we walk in the fear of the Lord and turn away from evil our body will benefit. Note how wrecked the bodies of flesh are of those who turn away from God. Note what happens when we seek pleasures and sin rather than righteousness and godliness. God has and will care for those who trust in Him and pursue His ways and His truth. God can heal the bones of those who put their faith in Him because His ways create healthy choices. Those healthy choices are refreshing to the flesh and the bones. Those who make poor choices and simply seek their own pleasures do harm to their health and flesh, because pleasure does not typically come with good choices. We can, of course, have pleasure when we come to God and seek His ways. But, what Solomon is referring to in the above passage is the choices of pleasure that are evil. Paul's lists them in Romans 1. He talks about those who have rejected God's way and sought their own life. They rebel against the knowledge of God and seek their own ways. That always brings about pain and suffering. Note Paul's thoughts ... this is what happens when we fail to observe the truth in the above passage:
Romans 1:21-27
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
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