Body and Soul: Prospering together
3 John 1:2
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest propser and be in health, Even as thy soul prospers.
Prosper: To have a GOOD journey, to succeed
During these times, it was common to greet a brother or sister with the same phrase as John greeted his brother Gaius, in the Gospel. He heard of how well Gaius was doing spiritually and with the church. Gauis took care of the traveling ministers that would come into town and so on. He also was proud that Gaius was continuing to walk in the truth. That is the truth of Jesus Christ, because there were many false prophets and teachers during this time. It seems as though brother Gaius was prospering pretty well spiritually, which is of the utmost importance, but John also granted him much success in his physical journey. Christian leaders and laymen alike can sometimes be guilty of, trying to build superior spiritual maturity, all while allowing their physical state to go to the dogs. This could be financially and health wise. But it is evident in this passage that God is concerned about our spirit and our natural bodies.
Some, who are not given to much exercise would like to quote 1 Tim 4:8 Bodily Exercises profiteth little, but godliness profits all things.. While this is VERY true, the reaping of spiritual health will always go farther than natural health, it does not give us a license to neglect this body that God put so much detail into creating!! He made us in his image, and who are we to distort it through neglect and disease. Our bodies are the temple of God! 1 Cor 3:16-17. The Holy Spirit dwells on the inside of our bodies. So it would stand to reason that God doesn't want to live in filth. So how do we begin to get our bodies and our spirits equally fit? By seeking God's help, ask the Holy Spirit to help us practice diligence and discipline. When we are diligent to seek God for our spiritual and natural health, and then make actual steps in that direction, God will supply us with even more diligence. I am experiencing this my life right now!
I have decided that I will no longer beg and plead, and desire to be at a certain level and never see it? I have come to the conclusion that the reason why I don't see my body and soul prospering spiritually and naturally at the same time, is because I don't act like I want it! It's almost comparable to me sitting around saying that I'm hungry, I'm hungry, I'm hungry!? 15 or 20 times but refuse to go and get something to eat? Then guess what? If I don't make a move soon, an hour or two later, I will still be hungry and even starving! It is insane to want change in your life but don't put fort the effort and discipline to see change come.
God wants us to do well, but how much of this responsibility is ours? We desire to BE________ but we won't make or take the steps, we won't put forth the effort. Yes God is going to be there to power us through, but we have to act like we want it. We have to seek and we have to be diligent! Proverbs 13:4 says: The soul of the sluggard desires, and hath nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat! WOW! This scripture is a direct reflection of how we live our lives. It is about the choices we make, and not the cards we are dealt? Bottom line, if you are lazy you get nothing, if you work hard you will reap the benefits of your labor. (This isn't to say that we can earn our way into the kingdom of God, but we have to be diligent to seek after God so we can grow, this is what it means spiritually, to work)
In order to be prosperous we have to ask God for self-control(after all it is one of the fruits of the spirit!) With self control we can make the right choices and shut off all the noisy distractions in our life that tend to rob us from being prosperous!
As I was reading this, the spirit led me to the book of Proverbs, in 13:3 it says if a man can control is tongue, he can control his entire body. It goes on to say that the tongue is a small member, but full of deadly poison who can tame it? But, if you can tame it, control what you say, how you say, when and who you say it to. As well as speak in truth. You will have control over your entire body! WOW, I want to experience this discipline! You mean if I can start with my tongue, everything else will fall in line? So, Lord I say: Help me to guard my tongue! And I will not just say this but I am going to start practicing it today. I will resist the urge to say things that are not completely edifying or necessary. I will start there, and be diligent and I know God will water this seed that I'm planting. My goal is that it will permeate my Body and Soul that they may prosper together. May God continue to bless us all, as we continue on our spiritual journey.
