Week 6, Day 40 - Sickness & Sin

"If he has sinned, he will be forgiven."  James 5:15

REFLECT

James 5:14-15, which speaks about illness, healing, and the prayer of faith, may strike us when it concludes with this statement: "If [the ill person] has sinned, he will be forgiven." We know that sickness is a real issue in life, and we know that we need our sin to be forgiven - but is there a relationship between the two?

On the one hand, we know that it is very unhelpful - even damaging or devastating - when a seriously ill person keeps asking: "What have I done wrong? Where have I sinned? Why is God punishing me?" We know from the book of Job, however, that this is not the right way to think about our calamities in life. Job was the man who suffered almost more than can be imagined and was told by his "friends" that his serious condition must mean that he did something terribly wrong. That he had failed God in a major way. Why else would God be putting him through this?

This argument goes around and around in the book of Job, and the bottom line is: No, it is not right to think that there is a one-to-one correspondence between our distresses and our sins.

Job was a sinner, yes. And he lived in a world of fellow sinners, a world that is broken and often sick because of sin. So sometimes we are ill just because we live in a world of viruses and carcinogens and earthquakes. Once in a while, however, we do get sick because our sin directly causes the sickness -and then our illness is a direct consequence. If you choose to abuse drugs or be sexually promiscuous, you may suffer the consequences of addiction or a sexually transmitted disease. In 1 Corinthians 10, the apostle Paul says that some in that church were getting ill because of their severe spiritual disobedience.

So the bottom line is this: When we are ill we should ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us as to the nature of our illness. If there is no obvious answer, we should not assume God is punishing us and just not telling us why.

But what about "If he has sinned, he will be forgiven"? It means that when we are in distress and pray "the prayer of faith," truly entrusting ourselves to God, we can know and experience beyond the shadow of a doubt the forgiveness of God and he will "raise us up." It all works together. Spiritual health, physical health. Everything is different because the healing power and forgiveness of the Messiah is here.

MAKE IT REAL

List three aspects of your lifestyle that you know affect your health in a negative way. Choose to change at least one of these things, beginning this week. Remember the Holy Spirit empowers us with physical energy to do and to be.

Day 41