We tend to put “holiness” things in the church and “health” things in the doctor’s office or hospital. The root words for heal, holy, hale, whole, and health come from the Old English words hal (noun) and halen (verb). The German counterpart is heil which means health and also salvation. The two words holiness and health are actually redundant.
When we separate holiness and health and tend to see one as religion and the other as medicine we rob ourselves of a basic God created truth—health and holiness go hand in hand with each other. The relationship between the two is seen when we consider prayer affecting health, faith influencing the immune system, and grace reducing stress. In the early church, body and soul were not separated. A soul restored to holiness also meant a healthy body.
The prayers we offer when our bodies are broken because of illness or accident are not a simple “add on” to what the medical world can do for us, they are critical to pushing our bodies, minds, and spirits back to health. God’s creation intends for our physical health and our spiritual wellbeing to be one in the same. Meditation and medication are divided by one letter and certainly do different things, but hopefully not at the expense of the other, but in concert with the other.
Psalm 139:14 reminds us that “we are fearfully and wonderfully made” by the hands of our creator. In light of this “good news” we of course are reminded that we live in a broken creation and that complete healing of both body and mind will come to us when we join those saints living already in the glory and splendor of God.
Today know that you are a holy person empowered to use prayer, faith, and grace side by side with all the wonderful blessings our medical world gives to us, to experience the healthy life God would have us enjoy.
O Lord, into your healing hands I commend my body, soul, and spirit.
Amen
Pastor Jerry
Tomorrow: Holiness and Hospitality
