LOVING YOURSELF Pt.6

YOUR HEALTH(B)

Larry Parker told the story of how he and his wife refused insulin treatment for their diabetic son, Wesley. They quoted healing scriptures and obeyed James 5:14 by getting elders to pray for him and to anoint him. After some days, the boy died. They wondered where they missed it. In fact, the government charged them for involuntary manslaughter and felony child abuse because of their refusal to give their son insulin. Months after, the Lord spoke to them through a prophet who didn't know what they had gone through saying, "Not everything you did was right." Later, the Lord told the wife that their lack of love for their son failed him ( 1 Cor13:8). If they had loved him as they should, they would have given him insulin. Larry said, "I knew then that we had allowed what we thought was faith to cause us to forget to love. As we prayed for Wesley and saw him in obvious pain, our love for him wanted to give him the insulin that we knew would stop his suffering, however, we felt that it would be a lack of faith, and would cost him his healing. We learned later that our actions were contrary to what the Scriptures say. God's Word says that love is greater than faith (1 Cor 13:13). Not only were we wrong in putting faith above love, but the faith that we were attempting to exercise was the wrong kind of faith. Had it been the right kind of faith, Wesley would have been healed (Matt 17:20)." Presumption kills.

Our opening text is one of the most misunderstood scriptures in the new testament on the subject of healing. Some picked the word 'anointing' and they quickly made a practice of anointing every sick person with oil thinking that's a healing formula. However, that's not what Apostle James was saying. In the new testament, the Greek word "Chrio" and "Aleipho" were translated into a single word, "anoint". This is due to the limitation of English language in giving meaning to certain words. Chrio refers to "sacred and symbolical anointings;" of Christ as the "Anointed" of God, Luke 4:18; Acts 4:27; Acts 10:38, and Heb 1:9, where it is used metaphorically in connection with "the oil of gladness." However, Aleipho was used in James 5:14 to mean medicinal oil. This is not the same as Chrio where power or divine enablement is implied.

What was James saying? What he actually meant in James 5:14 was that if anyone among the brethren is sick, the elders should pray for him and use medicinal oil (medication) alongside prayers. He was not condemning the use of medicine, in fact he encouraged it. Ultimately, it is God that heals. He said in the next verse(15a): "Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well." God heals in different ways. The use of medication should not be seen as an alternative to faith or faithlessness. If it was, James wouldn't have recommended the prayer of faith alongside the use of medication. Faith in God has no alternative but can be expressed in different ways. So it is not a proposition of "Faith or..."; that'll be finding alternatives to Faith. Rather it is _"Faith with... (whatever legal means under God)",_ while "Faith In God" remains constant. For those who demonize medicine, John said, "God created everything (including medications) through him, and nothing was created except through him." (John 1:3 NLT. Emphasis mine). I am in no way saying God cannot heal without medications. I have experienced that severally. However, it is no crime to use medications neither is it a sign of faithlessness to consult doctors for medical care. Those who love themselves enough to be alive and well take advantage of God's wisdom available in medical praxis.