Health Before Strength

Jeremiah 17:⁸ “They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.”

I am sure that by now you are saying, Pastor, I need to increase my strength. What are the sources of strength? We will look at seven sources of strength. If you harness these sources of strength, by the grace of God, you will be indestructible and consistently triumph regardless of the season. The Bible says that you will be like the trees planted by the riverbank, not bothered by the weather, the economy, the pandemic, or the recession. You will flourish season in, season out. The seven sources of strength are Faith, Family, Friendships, Finances, Fitness, Farm, and Fun. Beyond what we discuss daily, I want you to drill down deeper on how these areas infuse strength into your life and how you can harness them.

The first is Fitness. The truth is you have to be healthy before you can be strong. Imagine Mr A shows up at the gym coughing, sneezing, shaking, and cannot even stand straight. Yet Mr A is insisting on running on a treadmill and lifting weights. The gym instructors will most likely advise Mr A to go home and take care of himself first. You have to be healthy. The truth is, you cannot even begin to talk about strength if you have not locked down health. Fitness is all about health before strength. There are things that God wants to bring you into, and territories God wants to deliver to you. If you are not physically fit, you cannot cope.

I was looking at the life of a billionaire. Yes, he has a private jet and all the other perks that come with being a billionaire. However, this man has businesses in several countries, so he is going from Africa to Asia, to the Middle East and so on. In spite of all the Zoom meetings that can happen, he still needs to take care of his business interests. I looked at his schedule and how he travels. If you even see him move from his car to the jet, it will blow your mind how physically fit he is. The truth is he cannot do what he is doing if he is not as fit as he is. You need to take care of your fitness and your health.

Apart from physical fitness, there is also mental fitness (mental health). A lot of people are mentally ill. You cannot even begin to talk about developing mental strength without first dealing with mental health. Mental illness is real. If you are mentally ill, please seek help. Some people are spiritually sick. They cannot even begin to talk about being spiritually strong without first getting healthy spiritually. Do you know Jesus? Is He the Lord of your life? What are the fundamentals of faith? You need to first be healthy spiritually before you can be strong.

Prayer: Father, heal my body and my mind and infuse with strength in my inner man even as I build physical strength, in the Mighty Name of Jesus. Amen!