Some people go to the doctor once a year for what is often called an annual checkup to see how they are faring, health wise. [I know I should be one of those people, but I'm not.] During this annual physical exam, medical personnel prod and poke and test and look at you in just about every possible way, all to ensure your good health. It's important to know that nothing within your body has changed in a negative way during the past year, and that nothing physically serious and/or life-threatening is affecting you.
If a person is concerned about his physical body, should he not be just as concerned--if not more so--about his spiritual condition? I believe he should. I am reminded of a passage where John wrote to "the beloved Gaius," saying that he prayed "that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul." (3 John 1:2) I can't help wondering what kind of physical health I could expect if others were praying for my physical health to be on the same level as my spiritual condition. Would that be a good thing? Maybe it's time for an annual checkup to see where I stand. Would you like to join me?
Am I as strong as I was last year? When I was younger, I looked forward to exercising and participating in sporting activities that would make me stronger. I looked forward to getting on the weight machines in the gym and seeing if I could press more than I had the year before. I remember one year when I worked on my leg strength by cycling and was able to press the entire set of weights. If you're wondering why I keep saying I remember these things, it is because I no longer do them or work out with the weights as I did in the past. Now I wonder if I could lift half of what I did way back then, and I do not look forward to strenuous activities for fear of straining my muscles or hurting myself.
With my physical body at its present age, I pretty much expect that I am not going to be as strong as I was in the past, but I do hope that at least I don't experience dramatic loss of strength from one year to the next. We expect our physical bodies to grow weaker during our lifetimes, and that gradual weakness will accelerate if we don't use our muscles. But if I lose a significant amount of strength in a short period of time, the doctor will suspect that something is wrong. If I was 200 pounds of muscle last year, and this year I weigh in as the proverbial 98-pound weakling, I am sure he'll be alarmed.
On the spiritual side, however, I should always expect to be getting stronger, no matter what my spiritual age. If anything, as I grow older, I should become stronger. Peter urged the first-century Christians, "as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby." (1 Peter 2:2) That desire should remain with me, no matter how old I am in the faith. If I'm not growing stronger, maybe it's because I have lost my desire for God's word. Am I studying as diligently and as often as I did in the past? Am I working out spiritually, striving to become stronger so I can be able to overcome every temptation and endure every trial?
Is there something in my spiritual life that will lead to certain spiritual death? In the physical realm, doctors examine our bodies to make sure they don't contain things that aren't supposed to be there. Such things could range from simple fibrous cysts to cancerous tumors, but they are seldom, if ever, beneficial to the body; and almost always, the doctors remove them as soon as possible and in ways that will not further harm the body.
On the spiritual side, is something in my life equivalent to spiritual cancer? Am I practicing or participating in things that are slowly eating away at my spiritual strength and will inevitably cause spiritual death? James reminds us that temptation, if not checked, "gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death." (James 1:14,15) It doesn't matter what I think it will do, that will be the certain end. Denying this would be about as wise as ignoring a large cancerous tumor in the physical body. Denying the tumor's existence doesn't change the fact that its there; nor does it change what it will do to my body. I cannot run blithely down the path toward sin and eternal destruction and expect spiritual healthiness and eternal life.
We could go further in the examination, but I now want to consider a couple of things we must do to obtain and maintain good spiritual health.
We must watch our spiritual diets. In the physical world, any doctor [or parent] will tell you that a constant diet of junk food that contains excessive amounts of fat and sugar does not promote good physical health. Likewise, a diet that consists of a minimal amount of God's word, or feeding oneself on spiritual junk food [all fluff and no substance] is no better for the spiritual body. As in the physical realm, spiritual junk food may seem pleasant and filling for the moment, but before long the spiritual body begins to crave real substance and things that are nutritious and strengthening. Superficially reading through the Bible without taking anything substantive from it will not strengthen me; I must read [study] to gain some spiritual benefit and to get stronger. I cannot limit my intake to milk and expect to mature in the faith without ever trying the meat of God's word (cf. Hebrews 5:13,14).
We must exercise regularly. In the physical realm, regular exercise and lifting weights makes the body stronger. Weightlifting is nothing more than active resistance [working against gravity]; spiritual weightlifting is similar in that we become stronger by constantly and regularly resisting temptations and trials. James reminds us that when we are tried and stand fast, it produces "steadfastness" (James 1:2,3); and resisting the devil makes him flee from us (James 4:7). I know of no man stronger than the one who can make the devil flee. We are talking about an enemy whose life goal is to cause every soul to be lost. We must remember to resist every time we are tried and tempted.
Finally, let us consider what happens:
When we are weak. If I am physically sick, I don't have the strength to do the things I normally do; I also lack the strength and endurance to be able to help others. In the same sense, when I am spiritually weak, I lack the power to stand against trials and temptations. I also lack the strength to help others stand, or to do good to them, or even to teach them the things they need to know about their spiritual conditions and the need to obey. If I am weak, I do not have the confidence to tell others how God wants them to live because I am not living as God wants me to live. I will not want to speak to them about spiritual matters because I do not know God's word well enough to answer. I will seldom attend Bible class because I see it as a waste of time; I will not apply the preacher's or Bible class teacher's lessons to myself because I am too busy thinking about worldly things. In short, I will look, speak, and act just like the world, and I will not influence others to obey the gospel because they do not see any difference between my life and the way they live. Sadly, if I am spiritually sick, I may infect other believers and cause them to also become weak.
I am fairly certain that if our annual physical checkups revealed serious illnesses, we would act immediately to regain our health. I ask then, "If you find your spiritual health is not what it should be, what are you going to do about it?"