Staying Healthy Biblically (Part 1 of 4) MCGI Topic Review

Have you ever thought if its possible to stay healthy until you last breath? Most people consider declining health as a part of getting old. But is there anything we can do? Something that guarantees not only outward good looks but also internal fitness? Today I’m going to talk on this interesting subject that would change the way you think about health and aging.

Brother Eli Soriano gives us a biblical perspective on health in this biblical teaching. He starts off with some common sense health assumptions we tend to make about old age and fitness, but are they really true? Can we really stay fit and healthy given the right method in the latter years of our life? Let's hear these fascinating insights from brother Eli and what the Bible has to say on keeping healthy.

The centerpiece of the lessons Brother Eli teaches is that staying healthy is not a matter of simply living for the greatest number of years. He relies on a verse written in the Bible nearly 2,000 years ago by one of Jesus Christ's disciples, 3 John 1:2, which states, "Beloved, I wish above all things that you prosper and be in good health even as your soul prospers."

This is about how important he considers health. It’s not something he thinks about after everything else or a lesser thing. No, the apostle John puts physical fitness as an important thing, even above wealth. This shows that in the Christian religion, good health is thought to be an essential part of a well-lived life.

Brother Eli in this teaching goes against the norm that our health is supposed to deteriorate as we age. But the truth of the matter the scriptures teaches that our health and spiritual lifestyle can improve with age. Deep thought dealing with many areas we need to consider as we grow older.

To illustrate this point Brother Eli looks to the character of Moses from the Old Testament. In Deuteronomy 34:7 we are told, “And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.” The text paints a picture of a Moses who, at the old age of one hundred and twenty years, still had his health. His vision even became clearer and he did not lose any of his physical strength.

You may ask, “That’s great for Moses, but we don’t live that long!” And you’d be right. But Brother Eli’s reason is not only because of the length of years, but also because of the good health that we can have till we reach that age and retire.
What’s more interesting is how Moses died. According to Brother Eli’s exegesis on Deuteronomy 32:49-50, Moses didn't die through natural death nor infection. God ordered him to ascend the mountain and die there. It means that Moses had still an excellent physical condition when God took him.

This notion that we can sustain peak health until our last breath is an alluring one, and more importantly, it forces us to rethink some basic assumptions we hold about aging and the body. Instead of assuming a slow decay is inevitable, it compels us to instead look at how we can maintain good health right up until the end.

But how do we get to this level of health? Brother Eli says the answer is in following the teachings of God's words. Many health problems are a result of bad habits or addictions, be it alcoholism or smoking. By embracing Christian teaching and letting go these vices, surely our state would drastically improve.