No Side Effects

"The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it" (Proverbs 10:22, KJV).

In the 1980s, it seemed that the majority of television advertisements promoted fast food or junk food. During the '90s, antacid commercials punctuated food ads like commas. Once Americans became fatter and sicker, the trend shifted again. Now the larger number of television and magazine advertisements push medications for every ailment and more medications for the side effects created by medications.

The big print and first half of these advertisements promise life worth living: big smiles, shining eyes, and frolicking on golden beaches. The small print and last half of these commercials grudgingly expose the darker truth. Side effects rob most patients of the good life they long to recapture.

There is a place of blessing in God that embraces every area of life: spiritual, mental, physical, social, and financial. This is the kind of blessing enjoyed by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When God blessed them with wealth, it was a wealth of genuine goodness that did not diminish their eternal reward in heaven.

3 John 2 says, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." In God's mind prosperity is not limited to a person's spiritual condition, or one's bank account, or any compartment of life. God wants his blessing--his perfect goodness--to overflow into every corner and crevice of life.

Diving into the pool of the Lord's presence makes a person grow wealthy--spiritually, mentally, physically, socially, and financially. The Hebrew word translated "rich" in Proverbs 10:22 means "to accumulate, to grow, to make rich."

God desires for people to grow in health. This was part of his plan in sending Jesus to the cross. Isaiah looked ahead to that day and prophesied, "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed." Peter, looking back at that same day, recalled, "Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed" (1 Peter 2:24 KJV).

The health that comes with God's blessings adds no sorrow with it. There are no undesirable side effects. The Hebrew word translated "sorrow" in Proverbs 10:22 means "worry, painful toil, a pang (whether of body or mind)."

Imagine if 1 Peter 2:24 was a prescription medication manufactured by a major pharmaceutical company and advertised on television--

"By Jesus Christ's stripes you were healed of every sickness and every disease. Find out if divine health is right for you. Ask your doctor about it today. Christ's redemption from sickness and disease is not for everyone. Side effects may include insomnia, nausea, sleepiness, weight gain, muscle cramps, high blood pressure, stroke, kidney failure, liver disease, or heart disease. If you experience suicidal impulses, contact your doctor immediately."

The blessing of God's health is not like that. It's immeasurably superior to anything offered by modern medicine. It's for everyone, and there are no side effects. It's perfectly good because it comes from a perfectly good God.