Proverbs 17:1-28
Saturday, 08 June 2024
A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken heart dries up the bones. - Proverbs 17:22
God gives a lot of importance to the heart of man as seen in the Bible. The eternity of a person is decided by the status of his/her heart. If we look around, there are plenty of things which give pleasure and entertainment to our heart but unfortunately many are unaware that the allurements of the world ultimately lead to destruction.
Our key verse points to the relation of the attitude of our heart to our overall wellbeing. The health of a person is affected by his/her attitude and spirit. A happy and cheerful spirit will improve your health, but a wounded, bitter and negative spirit can ruin it. See how Proverbs 14:30 relates the attitude of the heart to sickness: “a sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones.” A healthy heart has its balance of emotions and inclinations; while the heart that full of envy eats into his/her very bones.
Recent and advanced medical studies confirm this fact written by King Solomon 3000 years ago. There is now a whole category of sicknesses, where the mind can cause physical problems in our body. It is proven that many diseases like cancer, ulcer, depression, etc. affect the body because of wrong attitudes and emotions. We need to understand that a cheerful or a broken heart is a choice and they are not the result of our circumstances.
· Broken heart – dries up the bones
God created man with a clean and clear heart but when man fell into sin, the state of the heart turned evil- in other words man was left with a broken heart. In Psalms 6 and 51 we can see that when King David realized his grave sin with Bathsheba, he broke from inside, it dried him completely- he was tormented from within. King David was not able to carry on with this feeling that he cried on to God to have mercy on him, pardon his sins and to give him a ‘new heart.’ In short, if you are involved with any kind of sin, you are inviting serious condition to your heart. It will pursue you day and night and not let you even sleep in peace.
· Joyful heart – is a good medicine
A happy and cheerful spirit will improve your health condition. Now the question is how do we achieve a cheerful heart? Philippians 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.” If you make Jesus the Lord and Saviour of your life, you will have a constant reason to be joyful, regardless of the circumstances. That is why Apostle Paul said, in Philippians 3:8, “But indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”
Dear friends, let us examine ourselves. Who/what gives us enjoyment – Jesus or the world? As mentioned in the outset, temporary pleasure and joy will ultimately lead us to destruction – in this world and in eternity also. Only Jesus Christ can give you permanent and eternal joy. When King David understood this great truth, he started dancing and praising God (Psalm 32 & 68).
We can pray to the LORD: “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)
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