How to be healthy, wealthy and wise

Ben Franklin wrote, "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."  Who knew that a simple modification of your sleeping habits had such power?

I've always been a morning person, and although I am blessed with pretty good health, I'm by no means rich and Lord knows I'm not the smartest person in the room.  I guess the implication is that if you avoid bad habits (like staying out boozing all night) and avoid laziness (and hangovers, and STDs), then you'll be more likely to get up every morning and get that job and be able to keep it, and you'd be less likely to make a fool of yourself. (This from the man who said, "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.)

As I was reading my Bible this week, I came upon some more reliable Proverbs--those written by Solomon.  In the third chapter, Solomon also spoke of health, wealth and wisdom--but it had nothing to do with sleep schedules.  Proverbs 3:1-2 says, "My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity."

He seems to be saying that health and wealth come from wisdom.  But whence cometh wisdom?

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.--Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 9:10

Job 28:28 says, "The fear of the Lord--that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding."  Psalm 110:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding."  The source of all Wisdom is the "Word who was with God, and was God; He was with God from the beginning." (John 1:1-2)

Proverbs 3:7-8 says, "Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.  This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones."  Again, we see the promise of good health to those who show a reverential trust in God and a commitment to his revealed will as found in his Word.  "Fear" in this sense does not mean something from which we should run away, e.g. God's wrath; but it does encourage us to avoid taking advantage of His boundless love and unlimited mercy and grace.

This is not to say the wicked cannot be prosperous.  Jeremiah 12:1 laments this fact, asking God, "Why do the wicked prosper?"  We also see in Job, chapters 1 and 2, how a godly person can be struck with disaster, disease and even death.  In these cases, it is helpful to remember that these anomalies are usually temporary, and are either corrected in this life or the next.

There is a story I heard on NPR about genetic testing--you can read it at http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/12/06/166648187/perfection-is-skin-deep-everyone-has-flawed-genes
Anyway, it says that scientists have always known that normal, healthy people have flawed genes.  The estimate was that those flaws would range from a handful to maybe 100.  But when they started testing people--perfectly healthy people, they found that the average number of genetic "mistakes" is right at 400.  This got me to thinking about spiritual matters.  We live in a fallen world, where everyone is under sin's curse.  But for the redeemed, we have the hope of heaven, and with it, the knowledge that our resurrected bodies will be free of genetic flaws.  We will all be the way God originally created us to be--perfect reflections of Him.

So if you are sick, suffering, wracked with pain; if you cannot fathom why God has not heard your prayers for healing; when life's pressures are too great, or the day is so dark that you cannot perceive the light--it is then that we must take to heart the admonition of Proverbs 3:5-6:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Keep the faith.  Do not look outward, and wonder with Jeremiah "Why do the wicked prosper?"  Instead, look upward; keep your eyes on Jesus.  Better to rely on God's word rather than man's; better to read and apply the Proverbs of Solomon than the pithy aphorisms of Poor Richard's Almanac.