“Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.”
— 3 John 1:2 (NASB)
Gaius, to whom these words were addressed seemed to have been John’s son in the faith. Gaius was apparently an elderly man who had healthy issues and was constantly sick. In spite of his disability, however, Gaius was a man whose spiritual life was flourishing and reflecting the character of Christ. His “soul prospered”.
John’s prayer was that the physical health of this beloved saint might ‘prosper’, in the same way that his spiritual health was prospering.
If someone was to pray for you this prayer today: that God should make your physical health to prosper in proportion to your current spiritual health or in the same way that your spiritual health is prospering now; what would happen to you if God answered this prayer? Would you suddenly become very physically fit and busting with energy? Or would you become very sick? Would you fall down nearly dead and be rushed to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU)?
The greatest blessing on this side of heaven is the prosperity or the flourishing of the soul in union with Christ. “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36).
May God help us to be like Gaius. May He give us the grace to seek Him the way Gaius did irrespective of whatever disability or physical problems we may encounter so that in the end, we may live an exemplary life that is pleasing to the Lord, and for his greater praise and glory. Amen.
