God’s Wisdom Is Health For The Whole Body

Some of us are involved in health care. In our church, we have nurses and others who work at nearby hospitals or nursing homes. Health and wellness are their daily focus. But health is vital for everyone, of course. We should all give it attention. How do you care for the body God has given you? Do you eat well, get proper exercise? Do you know what ailments can afflict you, and how to avoid them?

In the chapter that we read, we receive some health advice from God’s Word. It’s in Proverbs 4: “Remember my words,” God says, “for they are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh” (vv 22). God shows us the better way to live, the healthy way—it’s the way of living according to his commandments.

Proverbs 4 is recounting Solomon’s words to his children. That’s how the chapter begins: “Hear, my children, the instruction of a father” (4:1). Throughout these early chapters, Solomon is teaching his family about the ways of the Lord. For the time will come when the young ones will leave home and find their own way. So Solomon insists, “My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings” (4:20). Remember this lesson always!

Yet they’re not just words for children or young people. We all benefit from having God’s wisdom within our hearts: from the time we’re young, to the time of old age. This is his way to healthy living, when body, and mind, and spirit are pleasing to the LORD. I preach to you God’s Word from Proverbs 4:20-27,

God’s wisdom is health for the whole body. He teaches you to:

1) guard your heart

2) purify your mouth

3) focus your eyes

4) direct your feet

1) Guard your heart: Good health has a lot to do with the heart. That’s certainly true physically, for if your heart has a strong and steady beat, then you’ve got lots to be thankful for. When heart troubles arise—when there’s a heart attack, or the beginning of heart disease—we realize just how important that small, constantly pumping organ inside us really is.

The same is true for the heart in another sense. Spiritually, it’s also the centre of our life, as those made in God’s image and called to live in relationship with him. According to the Bible, ‘the heart’ shapes our thoughts, it sets our direction, it controls so much of our behaviour. Scripture says the heart is much more than just the source of our emotions; it’s the spiritual command centre of our entire life.

So the LORD says our heart’s health and integrity is of paramount importance. See how He puts that right at the top of this medical check-list: “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (4:23).

He uses an image of the heart as a spring, or like the NIV puts it, “a wellspring.” We might not understand that comparison very easily. When I want water for my coffee in the morning, I just turn on the tap, and there is water—there’s little thought to where it actually comes from. But some of us draw their water from a well. For instance, when you built your house on a piece of land away from the city, you had a deep hole drilled in search of a water supply. And thankfully, you found an underground source. You appreciate this blessing, because whatever is used for bathing, drinking, or cooking, it all flows from that precious well.

That’s what the heart is like too. It’s full of the daily stuff of life. In the heart, we make those countless small decisions about what kind of person we will be. What will I say? How will I react to this situation? How will I use my time today? And what will I treasure? In the heart are the origins of everything else: “the issues of life.”

And just like finding a source of water on your property, your heart can be good or bad. For you might dig deep, find water, but it’s undrinkable. Or you might find good and clean water. In the same way, human hearts can be of two different types. Someone’s heart can be a steady stream of evil thinking and wrong behaviour. Or your heart can be a pretty reliable source of a goodness, a supply that is wholesome and refreshing.

Jesus taught about this in Matthew 12. He said, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him” (v 35). It’s what lies beneath that counts, good or evil.

That puts a question to all of us today: What’s inside you? What’s stored up in your heart? I wonder how often we think about our thinking, ponder our ponderings. Call it doing ‘an audit’ of your thoughts. Have an idea about the tone and pattern of your daily thoughts, from when you wake in the morning to when you go to bed at night. During those hours, what does your heart tend to be fixed on? What are you busy with upstairs?