“Health, Body and Soul”

by: Emanuel Limuel, Jr.

The Apostle John writes: Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.  This passage of scripture hits home with me because at one point I thought that I had a handle on my health, after being diagnosed with High Blood Pressure  Then back in 2015 I had a life changing event that set me on a course of seriously taking care of myself.   I began to watch what I eat and exercise daily.  As preachers and pastors, we have a tedious task of ministering to those in need.  It would do us well to take care of own health.   John’s prayer is that the readers would prosper and be in  good health, including their soul. John is praying that our journey will be a successful one especially concerning our health.  When John prays for our health, his prayer is that  we are successful.  We must do everything that we can to stay healthy. 

We must watch what we eat and exercise, as often as we can. I do realize that with our demanding schedule it is hard to do these things.  This is where managing our time plays an important role.  When I first started in the ministry as a full time staff minister my time management was horrible.  Before I this job I worked for the City of Austin and my schedule was set as far as lunch and breaks.  I later discovered that being in the ministry, lunch and breaks are not always set. I’m thankful that I have now learned how to adjust my time.

John prays for the soul which is the breath of life. The soul  is the seat of the feelings, desires and affections.  The body will dissolve but the soul will live on. We must take care of the temporal and the eternal. I encourage us to eat right, get plenty of rest and exercise. This will help towards a healthy body.  We must take caution to care for the soul.  We must make sure that we don’t over stress ourselves.  Paul tells us how to have a stress free life, which is found in Philippians 4:6-7.  We must make sure that our desire is to do the will of God and not get caught up with the materials things of this world.  As ministers, we must make sure our soul is right with God. The scripture says “what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul.” As we journey throughout the rest of the year, remember the prayer of John “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”

Emanuel Limuel, Jr.
Pastor
Friendly Will Baptist Church
elimueljr@gmail.com