Take your medicine

Good morning, everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Live long, live well”

Our Bible verse for today: “Don’t continue drinking only water, but use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.” 1 Timothy 5:23 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Take your medicine”

I believe medical science is a gift from God. I think healthcare professionals, investigative technologies, surgeries, therapies, and medicines contribute to much of God’s healing activity in our day. Oh sure, He still heals miraculously (probably more often than we realize), but in our day He also uses medical science to answer our prayers for healing and for longer life.

But we must take advantage of what He offers us. We must be willing to receive His chosen answer to our prayers and needs. Throughout the two months or our study on the theme “Live long, live well”, I have frequently referred to the work of Dr. Peter Attia and his team of researchers. In their book, “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity”, the primary focus of their work was on prevention. It was about preventing or holding off the onset of disease as long as possible. As we have already learned, their research revealed that exercise, good nutrition, adequate sleep, and other lifestyle factors play the biggest role in staying healthy and active late into life.

Taking advantage of investigative technologies is another key. In our day we are blessed to have procedures like mammograms, colonoscopies, prostate exams, electrocardiograms, and other investigative techniques which help to detect the onset of disease so it can be addressed at the earliest possible stage. Those technologies are a gift, but they are only helpful to us if we use them.

Likewise, once disease has been detected we must be willing to take advantage of the procedures, therapies, and medicines that will treat it, possibly cure it, or at least beat it back. I had an uncle who died from lung cancer at the age of only forty-seven. They could have saved his life by removing the diseased lung, and that is what the doctors recommended, but my uncle was afraid of the surgery that would be required. So, he equivocated about it until it was too late, and then he died, unnecessarily, leaving a wife and six young children behind.

In 1 Timothy 5:23 the Apostle Paul counseled his young protégé Timothy to take a little wine to help deal with his persistent stomach problems. In those days wine served a medicinal purpose. So, Paul was essentially telling the young man, “Timothy, take your medicine.” Paul was such a big advocate of the medical science available in his day that he traveled with his own personal physician (Luke).

Medical science is a gift from God. That being the case, my advice to all of us this morning is “Take your medicine”. Use the gift that God has provided for you.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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