An Apple a Day

Written by Roslyn Alexander.

Prevention is the best way to prevent a health crisis. Time in the Word, good nutrition, exercise, activities you enjoy and fellowship with friends who have your best interest in mind are the best medicine. Even a simple health issue may challenge us to the core if we don’t have a healthy mindset towards illness, disease, and aging. Following are short paragraphs which the acronym An apple a day, to help you do an attitude check.

Acknowledge that our Creator heals. The resurrection of the dead is the ultimate healing a believer will experience but one will also experience minor or miraculous victories throughout their lifetime. A good doctor is healing but even the professionals know there is a lot more to healing than they can offer. Our bodies are constantly bombarded by foreign viruses, bacteria and chemicals that it fights off on a daily basis. Most of the time we are not even aware that our bodies are working that hard for us and healing is happening on a microbial level daily. Even the ancient Hebrews knew Jehovah Rapha to be a powerful healer long before modern medical care.

Faithlessness and unbelief is the opposite of acknowledging God can heal you and/or raise you from the dead!

Naked and needy. We are all needy at one time or another in our life. From the cradle to the grave we will eventually experience dependency. This is a fact of life and learning to accept help or offer help to others is just part it. If you are blessed you learned this at a young age. If not, becoming dependent or helping a family member who needs it might be a bigger challenge for you.

Pride is the opposite of a raw understanding of what we are. Service to others is a spiritual gift especially when it involves the hard work of caring for someone who is dependent. If you have ever spent any time in a long term care facility you will see who enjoys their work and can manage it with a loving ease. They have a gift.

Appreciate life. Are you healthy? Praise God! Can you get yourself dressed and perform basic self care? Praise God. No one owes you good health, it is a gift you may have been born with. You may work hard to keep your health and that is praiseworthy, but not everyone is so fortunate and one day you may not be able to keep it. The natural order of this fallen world is for it to decline and decay.

Entitlement is the opposite of appreciation. The only thing we we are entitled to is to admit we are a sinners. We live in an imperfect world where will all eventually need healing at some point for emotional, mental, physical, or our spiritual condition. Not all illnesses are detectable or understood.

Patience is a great virtue. Paul wrote that we are to clothe ourselves with patience. In the morning when I don my clothing I also try to imagine I am putting on these things.

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience”

Colossians 3:12 NIV

We are God’s chosen but we do not get to select in what circumstances we will need to exercise patience. Experiencing illness is certainly one of those times, but even in the best of health patience with ourselves and others may allude us.

Anxiousness, and anger may be the opposite of patience.

Cursing is the opposite of praise. James also said praising and cursing should not come out of the same mouth James 3:10. If we desire to bless others we must put away cursing.

Love God with all your heart. This has been a commandment from the beginning and a constant theme throughout the Scriptures. Jesus made these verses real for us but they are still not easy.

Self worship and vanity is the opposite of love. When our focus in on self then it is too easy to loose hope, because we will sooner or later fail either by sin or in our health.

Act when God moves you. Did God bring someone to your mind today? Don’t forget to lift them up or to be obedient to what the Lord wants you to do for them. When Jesus sent out the seventy two, they had the power to heal and were instructed to anoint the sick and pray “the kingdom of God has come near you” Luke 10:9 KJV.

Ignoring the Spirit when it moves you to act is the opposite.

Daily depend on God. The ancient Hebrews covenant with God required them to daily burn incense and sacrifice a lamb at dusk and dawn. Where are our thoughts first thing in the morning and when we are closing out the day?

Forgetting we are a servant of God is the opposite of dependency. Daily we need to get our instructions and to know where our heavenly Father is at work so we may join Him.

Ask your heavenly Father to lead you to someone for their salvation, discipleship, healing, or just for demonstrating the love of God.

Not communicating with your heavenly Father if the opposite of asking.

Yearn for a deeper relationship with our LORD. When we admit our lives are shallow and empty with out Jesus we yearn for a better understanding. Job 19:25-27. Ask your heavenly Father to lead you to someone for their salvation, discipleship, healing, or just to demonstrate the love of God. All of us are healthier when we have purpose in our life.

Self indulgence is the opposite of yearning.

Post and photo by Roslyn Alexander. 
Roslyn Alexander had a 20-year career in the medical field in Urbana and Springfield, Illinois, where she currently resides with her husband Greg. The last twelve years they served with the International Mission Board in the European Diaspora, living in Toronto, Canada and Bristol, UK. In 2020 Roslyn published Essence of Day, and its evangelical activity booklet Essentials for Sharing the Essence of Day, a free handbook on how to share a fragrance and a Bible story. She enjoys leading workshops and speaking for women’s events on this topic, which is Biblically grounded.  You can find her online on her Facebook page, Essence of Days. And on Amazon.