Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
Leviticus 26:14-16 (NIV)
Punishment for Disobedience
14 “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, 15 and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.
In the Old Testament, illness was a punishment against the people of Israel if they broke their covenant with God. Does that mean when we get sick God is punishing us? If I tell a lie am I going to get a sore throat and not be able to talk? NO! God is not waiting around watching for your every misstep ready to ruin your health. We do that ourselves! We eat too much ice cream, drink too much soda, and sit around all day instead of getting outside. The covenant was about a relationship. When we reject God and His will for our lives life begins to deteriorate. That is true for us as individuals and as a society. But Jesus came to remove punishment and restore our relationship with God. He took the punishment that we deserve! We are loved more than we will ever know, and God wants to heal our hearts! As you pray today it is good and appropriate to ask for physical healing for yourself or those you love, but more importantly, ask that those you pray for would know Jesus more and find restoration with their Heavenly Father.