#170: Is Health Everything?
Then he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me you would surely recover.” But it happened on the next day that he took a thick cloth and dipped it in water, and spread it over his face so that he died; and Hazael reigned in his place.
II Kings 8:14-15
Earlier this week during a driving rain I drove past a Covid testing center. More than 100 people were standing outside waiting for their chance to have a Covid test. The next day I passed a drive thru testing site where cars were lined up for more than a mile. The news is full of similar stories as the world risks sickness from exposure to the elements and spends massive amounts of time for the opportunity not to be treated for Covid, but simply to find out from tests if they might have Covid. The world has trained many to consider health the most important thing in life and worthy of all sacrifice to maintain it for as long as possible.
King Ben-Hadad and his armies had killed untold numbers of people. Men, women, and children had starved under his sieges, kings had been killed in his battles. But when sickness came upon him, Ben-Hadad was so worried he sent 40 camel-loads of gifts to Elisha not as payment to be healed but as payment for the knowledge of whether or not he would survive the illness. On that note, Elisha had good news. Ben-Hadad would recover. The results of the test? The disease was not fatal! The bad news was Ben-Hadad was focused on the wrong thing. He should have been concerned for his soul and his spiritual health more than his physical health which will one day abandon us all. Ben-Hadad was going to die anyway and in a way he seemed to have least expected — his long-time servant Hazael would smother him in his own bed! What a terrible end to a terrible man’s life! And yet leading up to his death, his whole focus was on whether or not he would recover from an illness. So is the way of the ungodly — focusing on the temporal they neglect the eternal. At the end, like the rich man in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, they find themselves in the lake of fire in pain and torment.
Death comes upon all men for all have sinned. Only a handful of people remain alive from the era of the Spanish flu pandemic, the rest have died. One hundred years from now if the Lord should see fit to tarry only a handful may be alive from the Covid pandemic. Death comes quickly, for the days of our lives are short and we wither and die. While millions search out knowledge of their health status, in 2021 alone more than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses in the U.S.; more than 600,000 died from heart attacks and heart disease; and a further 38,000 died from car accidents. How many have received good news from their Covid tests only to die from a drug overdose, heart attack, or car accident on their return from the testing site?
Dear friends, the account of Ben-Hadad’s miserable death, the events in our own lives over the past two years, the whole of Scripture and human history should lead us to this place: More than temporary security over our physical health, we need eternal life. If we are willing to wait in long lines to find out our status concerning one illness, how much more ought we to crowd into churches to hear the words of eternal life preached to us? Jesus has and is the living water and the bread of life; we must live by every word that proceeds from His mouth. Come to Him you who are weary and heavy laden and He will give you rest. The relief from surviving an illness is very short lived. For Ben-Hadad it was less than one day. The good shepherd Christ came into the world and died as a sacrifice for your sins not to give you a day, decade, or century of freedom from viruses but to give as many as believe on Him eternal life!
The cry of the Lord these past two years continues to be the same as the 2,000 before, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” By all means care for your physical body, after all it is the temple of the Lord. But do not let these physical pursuits blind your eyes from Him who is eternal and who freely gives life to all who ask, seek, and knock! Death is coming. Today then is the day to find life by believing in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Now is the hour to make your calling and election sure in Christ Jesus. May 2022 be the year you not only find health from the Healer but salvation from the Savior!
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