None of These Diseases

After freeing Israel from slavery to Pharoah, God warned them, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you" (Ex 15:26).

That's an interesting historical promise to God's children as they headed for the Promise Land, but does it have any application to us?  I mean, can following the Word of God keep us from diseases today or was that just a promise that they would not suffer the same fate as Egypt if they were not disobedient like Pharoah?

Well, let's take a look at some diseases and consider them in this light.  STDs such as AIDS or gonorrhea are caused by sexual transmission.  Every single STD can be 100% avoided if one follows God's will in refraining from fornication and adultery.  If a man and woman refrain from intercourse until marriage and are faithful to each other afterward as God directs, they will have none of those diseases.

Stress, the bane of the Modern Era, produces hypertension, heart disease, stomach disorders and a myriad of other problems.  It is caused by being overloaded and overworked, both of which run counter to God's call to take a Sabbath Rest and to cast our cares upon him.  If we trust in God and rest from our labors, stress and its associated illnesses will not visit us.

Obesity and the countless disorders directly related to it comes from overeating and the consumption of junk food - living to eat instead of eating to live.  God clearly warns us against the sin of gluttony and if we listened to him, we could avoid all the many diseases that come from allowing our stomachs to become our God.

I could go on but I think the point is clear that so much of what ails us is us.  Because we don't listen to God, we find ourselves inflicted with diseases that we could absolutely avoid.  And, if our food supply wasn't contaminated with pesticides and preservatives, we could avoid so much more, even diseases such as cancer are so often traced back to a food supply controlled by marketing forces not for nutrition.

The science is clear that processed sugar is very bad for us but it is put into nearly every processed food on the shelves.  We continually pick up bags of this poison to create tasty but toxic treats.  Processed food often contains portions of sugar, fat and salt in order to create an addictive effect on the consumer.  Greed drives our food production and our addiction supports market greed.

What if, in America, we followed God's design for sexual fidelity, balance of rest and work, and thoughtful food consumption?  How would that change the medical landscape?  If we obeyed God, do you think that a country, which makes up 5% of the world's population would still be consuming 75% of the world's prescription drugs?  Jus' Ask'n.