LUKE 5:31-32

Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

TO PONDER

My father was very typical of his generation. They had to be very sick or injured before they would go anywhere near a doctor or hospital. In the 17 years I lived at home, I cannot recall that he was ever in hospital. He had been though. He had quite a stint in hospital after being machine gunned in the second world war, and had quite a long recovery. And later in life, he had further surgery to relieve the pain of his war injuries. And, also, later in life he was in hospital for kidney stones (which people tell me are very painful). But otherwise, he was able to keep away from the medical profession. Then he died of a massive heart attack at the age of 68. The autopsy showed that his arteries were so bad that nothing could have been done to save him. I guess it wasn’t the thing to do 40 odd years ago to go to the doctor for regular check-ups. If he had, he may have been able to receive restorative treatment.

These days, we have probably swung to the opposite extreme with my GP wanting to see me every 6 months for regular check-ups. 18 months ago, the results of the check-up led me to being diagnosed with prostate cancer. Further checks showed it had been found early and it seemed to have not spread. After surgery to remove the cancerous organ, I am now back to essentially living the same as before the diagnosis. And now I am having even more regular medical tests.

Our spiritual health is very much the same – especially if we have been involved in the church for many years. Just as my father didn’t seek medical attention because he didn’t feel sick, so we can coast along in our Christian faith because we are not aware of our spiritual infirmities. As for our physical wellbeing, so for our spiritual wellbeing, we need regular check-ups, and not just every 6 or 12 months. We can get weekly spiritual check-ups at church services and we can get quick daily spiritual check-ups through daily reading the bible and/or devotionals. And God also speaks to us during our regular prayer times.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you that you know me intimately and that you know all about the things that are not right in my life. Thank you for all the ways to reach out to me to bring me the things I need to maintaining a healthy and intimate relationship with you. Amen.

Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping