The Best Medicine

Bible:

A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22 ESV

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Psalm 32:1-5 ESV

Reflection:

Ricarda is a nurse in a hospital, and she thinks it’s a very challenging job. Ricarda has to make sure that her patients get the correct medicine and treatments. She has to watch and examine them and see if there are any changes in their condition that the doctor should know about. Nurse’s aides help her get the patients clean and dressed, and they usually take the temperature and other vital signs, but Ricarda has to make sure that it all gets done and check to see if there’s anything to be concerned about. She has to make a plan for each patient’s care. But for Ricarda, one of the most important things she does is to talk to the patients. She tries to give them encouragement and hope, especially if they feel depressed or discouraged. If they are afraid, she tries to give them good information and to calm their fears. Ricarda knows that one of the best medicines for getting well is to be happy and positive. Feeling hopeless and negative often means that patients don’t do as well.

Medical science has come to know what the Bible taught a long time ago, and that’s that happy and cheerful thoughts are like good medicine, but negative feelings can make you feel sick. God made us whole people, and our bodies and our minds and spirits all work together. Do you ever get a stomachache when you are worried about something? Or a headache when you have had too much stress? These are examples of your body being crushed with the weight of worry and fear.

The worst kind of stress your mind or spirit can ever know is the fear of God’s punishment and the guilt and shame of sin. Even the best nurse in the world can’t take that heavy burden away from us, and there’s no way we can have positive thoughts of our own that could pull us out of this trouble. But God sent Jesus to be our Savior, and Jesus took all the weight of our sins on himself. He took them all the way to the cross and paid for them there. Because of Jesus, all our sins are forgiven, and we can go to our loving heavenly Father with all the other things that worry and trouble us. He is always there to listen and to help and to give us the joyful hearts that are good medicine for our bodies and our whole lives.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for forgiving our sins and for giving us calmness and joy in our troubles. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The Firstborn Son

Bible:

Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’” Exodus 4:18-23 ESV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Colossians 1:15-20 ESV

Reflection:

In Bible times, and also in some cultures today, the firstborn son was a very important person in the family. He was the one who had the right to inherit most or all of the family wealth. He had the right to be the head of the family when his father died. In countries where there are kings and queens, the firstborn son is the one who will be the next to rule. Henry VIII of England had a son, Edward, who was to become king after him. Henry was very concerned about Edward’s health. When Edward got sick, he became worried and afraid. It would have been scary to be Edward’s nurse! If something had happened to Edward, Henry probably would have punished the nurse pretty badly.

God called the people of Israel his firstborn son. He was concerned about Israel and was about to save them from slavery. He told Moses to warn Pharaoh that if he didn’t let the people of Israel go free, he was hurting God’s firstborn son. God would punish Pharaoh by killing his firstborn son. This was a very serious threat. To lose his firstborn son would be to lose the assurance that Pharaoh’s kingdom would go on after his death. The people of Israel were God’s firstborn son because God chose them to inherit his blessings and promises. They were to be God’s special people. God wanted them to show the families of the world what it meant to obey and serve God. Israel would live in the promised land and know God’s law. Most importantly, God planned to use Israel to bring his true firstborn Son into the world.

Jesus is God’s true firstborn Son. He is the Son of God forever, and he was there at the creation of the world. God the Son became a human person when Jesus came into the world. Jesus came to save us from the sin that separates us from God. His death made peace between us and God, and when he rose again he won the victory over death. The Bible calls him the firstborn from the dead, because all of his younger brothers and sisters who believe in him will also rise from the dead to live with God forever.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for what your firstborn Son Jesus did for us, and for making him our older brother forever. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Help for the Helpless

Bible:

When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.” Exodus 2:3-10 ESV

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8 ESV

Reflection:

Josine lived in an orphanage with several other girls, and one morning the housemother asked her to go and look on the porch to see if the bread had been delivered from the bakery. So Josine went opened the door and looked into the breadbasket on the porch, and instead of bread she saw a little baby! The baby was thin and wrapped in a coarse sack instead of a blanket, and he was helpless and alone. Josine looked, but she didn’t see his mother anywhere. The housemother and all the girls loved the baby right away and kept him in the orphanage with them. He became the girls’ little brother.

Moses’ mother had hidden her little baby for three months, but he was getting bigger and stronger, and she couldn’t keep him quiet or hide him any longer. If Pharaoh’s soldiers found out about him, they would put him to death and punish her and her husband. So she made a little basket and put him in it, and then she left the basket floating on the Nile River. Moses’ older sister kept watch until Pharaoh’s own daughter found the baby and decided to adopt him. This was both good news and bad news. Moses’ sister ran home and got her mother to come and be the nurse for the baby. While he was still little, his mother could take care of him. She would even get paid! But he wasn’t her little boy anymore because he belonged to Pharaoh’s daughter. Just as she had once put him in a basket on the Nile, she also had to give him up when he got older. Moses’ mother had to trust God to take care of him.

We were as helpless as little babies, under the power of sin and death. We couldn’t do anything to save ourselves. But God saw that we needed help, and he sent Jesus to die on the cross to save us. We can put ourselves into God’s hands and know that we are safe. Because of Jesus, he will take care of us and love us, now and forever.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to help us when we were helpless. Please be with us always. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Source:

Carlson, Natalie Savage A Brother for the Orphelines New York: Harper, 1959.