Healing Flows From God

Healing Flows From God

Fruit trees of all kinds will grow along both sides of the river. The leaves of these trees will never turn brown and fall, and there will always be fruit on their branches. There will be a new crop every month, for they are watered by the river flowing from the Temple. The fruit will be for food and the leaves for healing. Ezekiel 47:12

Ezekiel was an Old Testament prophet who had an apocalyptic vision of the Temple, God’s dwelling place, which he metaphorically revealed to be the source of divine, life-giving water.

This reminds me of the Amazon River and the surrounding rain forests. Did you know that many of our favorite foods, such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, figs, bananas, pineapples, coconuts, and mangoes are found in the rain forest? Though in the West we eat only about two hundred different kinds of fruit, natives of the area have access to a much broader diet, including nearly two thousand varieties of fruit.

Rain forest plants are also rich in medicinal properties. Nearly one out of every four ingredients in our modern medicines comes from the flora grown there. Furthermore, two thousand plants found in the rain forest have proven anticancer properties. It’s as if the rain forest is nature’s pharmacy, providing us with healthy foods and healing medicine.

It’s exciting when scientists discover new technological breakthroughs in food and medicine. But we must remember that some of the greatest modern miracles were discovered in trees and shrubs that God gave us thousands of years ago. Healing can come to us in many forms. Sometimes it comes miraculously. Other times it comes through medicine, and still other times it happens through healthy eating choices.

As today’s verse mentions, a river flowed from the Temple with healing waters, which nourished the trees on both sides. The trees were also a source of food and medicine. Ezekiel poetically reminds us that no matter how we’re healed, healing always flows from God.

TODAY’S RX

The healing properties of food aren’t found in a vending machine. If you can grow it or pick it, you’ll be much closer to the way God intended you to eat.

Lord, I desire to fill my body with the healthy, nourishing foods you intended for me to eat—not the sugary, processed foods that lack nutritional value. Help me to make wise choices this Christmas season to keep my body running well.