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Your life,
Your Choice
So, how well are you feeling today? Sometimes we talk about how "healthy" we are (by that, we usually mean we are not suffering from some kind of disease). But "wellness" goes beyond that. What God wants for us is not just health, but something more . . . He wants us to be well.
Wellness recognizes that we are multi-dimensional people, including various aspects (physical, mental, spiritual, social, etc.), all of which need to be functioning well and in balance for us to be really well. Getting enough exercise or the right food, clear thinking, clean air, an environment not poisoned by carelessness, emotional health, etc. are all part of what it means to live well. Wellness is not just about avoiding serious injury or illness, but a way of life.
Wellness is all about the conviction that living well is not just about avoiding the penalty that comes with poor choices, but living a quality of life that enriches our experience and allows us to flourish. This of course makes sense on its own, although the health statistics show that our culture has not yet fully grasped the implications of it all.
The good news is that because wellness is something that is about how we live, it is something we have a great deal of control over. Wellness is something we can decide we would like to have, simply by making wise choices in all those areas of our lives. It is also the kind of healing that God is ready and willing to offer right now.
What do we know about how to go about pursing wellness and healing? That's what Elmar Sakala explores with us this week. If you would like to listen to what he has to share once again, or perhaps for the first time, click here to access our sermon library.
We serve a God who does not just want us to escape the penalties for poor choices, but to embrace what it means to embrace healthy ones, so we can live with as high a level of wellness as we can. Looking forward to the second coming and an earth made new is not just a future hope - it also involves allowing as much of the future to break into the present as possible - to begin to taste a bit now as much of the coming future Kingdom in the present as we can. What a great gift. What a great opportunity for us and others - not just to promote health, but wellness!
Additional Resources for Wellness / Wholeness
Stephanie Paulsel, Honoring the Body (a book that is more than just about physical health, but what this means for all aspects of our life)
Wholeness Portal - Loma Linda University
A Local Wellness Center (Drayson Center at Loma Linda University)
Below is a passage of scripture that reflects Jesus' willingness and desire to bring healing, and perhaps even more, wellness into our lives. Take a few moments to reflect on what surfaces as you reflect on the passage:
Luke 7:1-17 (TNIV)
1 When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them.
He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”
14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
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