Right Measures!

Right Measures!

Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper and be in good health [physically], just as [I know] your soul prospers [spiritually]. 3 JOHN 1:2 AMP

Today's extract is addressed to a man named Gaius, someone who must have made a good impression on the writer of this book. It is just one chapter, but more importantly, it is addressed to one you would not call an apostle, but who must have done the work of an apostle. What do men call you; better still, can God entrust his work and lives into your hands? Will you be found faithful to the calling you have received, even if it is an obscure and thankless job?

Not so much is known about this Gaius, but as you read the Word of God, you find stories of people like the woman caught in adultery, the widow of Nain, the woman with the issue of blood, among others: nameless and faceless at the time, but we read and study their lives today, as examples of faith and hope in God. No one comes to God and leaves the same way; no one encounters God and is ever forgotten. Men may write history differently, but God never forgets. Such is the story of this Gaius.

Personally, I believe that today's extract connects the physical, mental and spiritual in one verse. The world views success and prosperity differently, and the Word of God also sees them differently. How do you talk about true success outside of God? How do you define prosperity outside of God? If what you hold has no eternal value, then maybe what you hold isn't the real deal. God connects success, prosperity and physical health together because really, you get the complete package in God. Haven't you seen men who are rich by the world's standards, yet cannot guarantee daily healthy living? Haven't you seen men who, in their private moments, who wish they could exchange earthly, temporal wealth for true health?

If the soul is right, then the spiritual is settled. The desire of the writer is that the physical will look like the spiritual, but it is important not to be so fixed on the physical that we miss the blessings of the spiritual. God's desire is that we make heaven, and as long as we are in this body, time, age and life will happen, but as long as we are on God's side, we will end well. What if the body isn't alright; would it affect what God can use that life for? Men can write you off due to the limitations they see, but as long as it is only men and not God who writes you off, then you have no need to worry. I take God at His Word, and I hold on to Him as I live daily, trusting that He will perfect all that concerns me. His time of favour is here.