James 5: 15-15 “Believe the lord when he answers yes to your request, and He will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have missed the mark, He will forgive them. Therefore confess your failings and shortcomings to each other and pray for each other so that the Lord may be healing you.” (Paraphrase)

Some, but not all, sickness is a direct result of sin. For this discussion, I understand sin to mean our failure to live up to the perfect will of God for our lives. God desires for Christians to practice and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Christians will debate the question, “Is excessive drinking, smoking, overeating and an inactive lifestyle sinful?” What they are really debating is what definition of sin they want to use. Most would readily admit that an unhealthy lifestyle misses the mark that a Christian should be aiming for.

Doctors tell us that failing to maintain a healthy lifestyle can result in sickness. Overeating and inactivity can lead to diabetes. Excessive drinking and smoking have their own set of chronic illnesses. If we are weak in one of these areas of our life, James is telling us to find a support group. We need to be open and honest with Christians who are willing to pray for us and hold us accountable. We are human and none of us will ever score a perfect 100 on the test of healthy living. We can all do better, but some of us miss the mark so badly that we need special help. God will seldom lower our high blood pressure, cholesterol, and body weight in an instant. Some healing requires us to pray hard, but work harder. The more we practice healthy living, the closer we come to hitting the mark that God has set for us. As others pray for us, and we work harder to hit the mark, our overall physical health will be improving. Some sickness, God heals through his power. Some sickness God heals through our obedience.