Perfect Faith means Perfect Soundness

“And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.” (Ac 3:16 AV)

Faith in the LORD Jesus Christ will radically change a person.  What was done for this lame beggar, countless have experienced.  It may not have been so much physical malady that was reversed, but for certain, a spiritual one! When the lame beggar was healed, he stood upright, went forward, and lived a completely changed life.  The past was in the past and his future was brand new.  Sometimes, we forget just how radical of a change Christ made in our lives.  We have walked so long in perfect soundness, we have forgotten what it was like to be lame.  Or, as we will apply it today, the work of Christ is not complete.  This lame man in present perfect health will grow older and feebler.  He will, once again, become lame.  However, faith in Christ has guaranteed him a glorified body that will be granted in glory!  This perfect soundness only gets more perfect when glory is our final home.

I am learning how feeble the body and mind become has we gain one year of age after another.  What we once did, we can no longer do.  Physically, that is not as much of an impact and mentally.  It is my mind which the LORD has granted as the main tool for His glory.  I am learning that I cannot keep as many mental balls in the air as I used to.  I have to write things down.  I have to plan things.  I have to take responsibilities and break them down into scheduled tasks or else I get overwhelmed.  There comes a time when the mind sees all that had to be done but also realizes it can never be done in ten lifetimes.  So, priorities are rearranged so that what one can do gets done.  The thing is, if we do not realize this is the process of aging and that glory will change it all back to soundness, it can be overwhelming and discouraging.  There will come a day when we will have that perfect soundness.

The encouragement we can take away from this is no matter what stage of life we are in, perfect soundness can be a part of it.  When the body and mind fail, we have the heart.  Our heart of faith becomes stronger.  We realize these things are normal and do not change what God has promised.  There are those who approach aging with fear and anxiety.  There are others who approach it with joy and anticipation.  The later have learned the secret of perfect soundness even in the midst of failing health.  They have learned that perfect soundness does not come by perfect health, but rather, perfect faith in Christ.