Long life, good sleep and a healthy heart

[SPEAKER_00]: Good morning everyone, it is great to be with you as we open the word today for church online in this very special service between Christmas and New Year who knows what time of the year it is or what's going on but you're here with us and that's really exciting and we are so grateful to have your company on this Sunday morning we let you watch a new series

[SPEAKER_00]: called Influences, which is all about the wisdom of King Solomon.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I want to ask you a question today.

[SPEAKER_00]: What did you get for Christmas?

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I know some of you got some magnesium powder.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you got a yoga mat.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you got a foam roller.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you got a new book on mindfulness or wellness.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that is because the wellness sector in Australia is now a multi-billion dollar industry.

[SPEAKER_00]: The wellness industry is worth billions and everyone is trying to figure out how to live longer, how to live forever.

[SPEAKER_00]: We seem to be obsessed with health and with wellness.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can buy

[SPEAKER_00]: all of your vitamins you can buy things to help you sleep better to help your heart to get your your joints or mobile and it seems it's there is just so much there we have more data now on our health than someone like King Solomon or anyone in the Bible could have ever dreamed of and yet we still seem to be getting sick what is going on?

[SPEAKER_00]: And what if the wisest man in history, which is King Solomon says the wisest man who ever lived, already spoke into this rest of the search for well-being over 3,000 years ago?

[SPEAKER_00]: What if there is some wisdom from Scripture about how we pursue a healthy mind, a healthy body, and a healthy heart,

[SPEAKER_00]: that might reorient us in our search.

[SPEAKER_00]: Not saying throw away your foam roller or your magnesium powder, but there might be something deeper here from Scripture that help us orientate ourselves around Scripture and around the way that the Lord has designed us.

[SPEAKER_00]: because you can have a fit body, and you can have a fraction soul.

[SPEAKER_00]: Some of the finished people that we know are also the people who are the most deeply unhappy, but wisdom and the gospel wants to heal both.

[SPEAKER_00]: Once us to be connected to our bodies, but also with a healthy mind and a healthy soul.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's listen to this together from Proverbs chapter three.

[SPEAKER_00]: My son, do not forget my teaching,

[SPEAKER_00]: For length of days and years of life and peace, they will add to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you, but bind them around your neck.

[SPEAKER_00]: Write them on the table of your heart so that you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

[SPEAKER_00]: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths, be not wise in your own eyes, but fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

[SPEAKER_00]: It will be healing to your flesh, and refreshment to your bones.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's from Proverbs 3 and then listen to this little gem from

[SPEAKER_00]: Remove the vexation from your heart and put away pain from your body for use and the dawn of lights, our vanity.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now when you put these two scriptures together, they outline a radically different kind of health plan, not one built on self-obsession and self-curation, but on surrender.

[SPEAKER_00]: A health plan that is built not on control and on image but on trust.

[SPEAKER_00]: See, the world says fix yourself, make yourself better, make yourself more beautiful, make yourself more fit or more healthy, but the Bible says, and wisdom says, align yourself with the ancient ways of God and see what happens to your health in turn.

[SPEAKER_00]: There are actually three mocks of biblical wellness that I want to talk to you about today.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the first one is the long life.

[SPEAKER_00]: Length of days and years of life, Proverbs says, if you follow my commandments and follow my teaching, they will add length to your days and years to your life.

[SPEAKER_00]: Solomon here isn't promising immortality as some people in our world are chasing.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's promising integrity.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's talking about quality of life, not just quantity of it, who knows you can live for a very long time and be very unhappy for a very long time.

[SPEAKER_00]: or you can have quality of life in the days that have been given you.

[SPEAKER_00]: The wise life avoids these cliffs of foolishness.

[SPEAKER_00]: Wisdom is a guardrail on this mountain road.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're all going up this road and Wisdom keeps us safe.

[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't stop the journey, but it stops you from falling off the edge.

[SPEAKER_00]: Foolishness, or folly, is the Bible says it's short and slight, but Wisdom sustains it.

[SPEAKER_00]: So when Wisdom says that Wisdom adds length of days, he's saying it saves you from wasting your years in a way that eats your soul away.

[SPEAKER_00]: I can't tell you how many people I've spoken to who said I feel like I've wasted so much of my time.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're getting long in years, they have a long life, but they look when they look back.

[SPEAKER_00]: They might say, oh, I wasted so much of it because I spend so much time being foolish in resentment, in greed, and cynicism, in pride.

[SPEAKER_00]: Think about how small unwise decisions drain light for way.

[SPEAKER_00]: Something that you thought was great or at the spur of a moment or on a whim and all of a sudden then you're spending perhaps years with the consequences of those decisions.

[SPEAKER_00]: The body keeps the score in our lives.

[SPEAKER_00]: We can tell what's going on and how you've been by how it is in your body, but so does your soul.

[SPEAKER_00]: So wisdom doesn't just add years to your life, but it adds those like, it adds life to those years.

[SPEAKER_00]: So other habits or attitudes, things that are going on for you right now, and trigger warning, it's just been Christmas, so maybe those conversations around the family table are still ringing in your ears, maybe the uncomfortability or the awkwardness of different interactions over this holiday time

[SPEAKER_00]: Are there habits or attitudes that are shortening your life?

[SPEAKER_00]: Unforgiveness that's stealing your peace, hurry and rushing that's just eroding your health slowly.

[SPEAKER_00]: We are getting tired or tired or pride closing you off from correction.

[SPEAKER_00]: Not willing to take any advice.

[SPEAKER_00]: The invitation today is simple.

[SPEAKER_00]: Turn away from what's evil.

[SPEAKER_00]: Turn away from folly and choose life.

[SPEAKER_00]: because you can't live long if you're living wrong.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so, secondly, good sleep.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's this part here where the Proverbs has trust in the Lord with all of your heart.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, sleeplessness is the national sport for anxious people.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know it, I've lost even just in, I think, back 2025, man, I have lost so much sleep because of worry, because of, um, cause of fretting over what tomorrow might bring.

[SPEAKER_00]: We lie awake, rehearsing tomorrow's problems, thinking about, oh, if that happens, I'll say that.

[SPEAKER_00]: And 90% of the time, all of those scenarios that we've invented at 2 a.m. in our minds never come to pass.

[SPEAKER_00]: and yet we think about them over and this and that and the other thing and it erodes our sleep.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now what's the end to doubt for that?

[SPEAKER_00]: The end to doubt is trust.

[SPEAKER_00]: Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, Solomon said, and don't lean on your own understanding.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's not just a memory verse, but that's a cure or an aid for good sleep.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because faith isn't just for Sundays, when you're standing in worship with your hands raised, that's not when you need faith.

[SPEAKER_00]: You need faith at 2am.

[SPEAKER_00]: When it feels like tomorrow, you're not sure what's going to happen.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's when we lean not on our own understanding.

[SPEAKER_00]: So try this before you go to bed.

[SPEAKER_00]: Why don't you pray?

[SPEAKER_00]: As you're going to sleep rather than rehearsing what tomorrow could bring.

[SPEAKER_00]: Why don't you rehearse or revisit God's fakefulness in your life?

[SPEAKER_00]: go back over all the times that he came through see you, all the times perhaps that you were worried, and then you stand up, oh God actually had that sorted.

[SPEAKER_00]: Give thanks for that scene that went right rather than worry about something that's going wrong.

[SPEAKER_00]: In close your eyes at night and say, God, I know I'm not God, and I thank you for that.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm gonna go to sleep because you never do.

[SPEAKER_00]: So trust and wisdom can allow us to sleep better, and I want to encourage you to lean into guys, faithfulness in your sleep.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thirdly, a healthy heart.

[SPEAKER_00]: It says healing to your flesh.

[SPEAKER_00]: This proverb says, if you follow my commandments, it'll bring healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

[SPEAKER_00]: So true, health is holistic.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's it's it's soul.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's body.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's mind.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's complete.

[SPEAKER_00]: If we follow wisdom and we follow after what God says in His Word.

[SPEAKER_00]: Solomon writes, let love and faithfulness never leave you.

[SPEAKER_00]: Buying them around your neck, he's saying, where covenant love like a necklace?

[SPEAKER_00]: Make faithfulness your daily fashion.

[SPEAKER_00]: person who lives in love has a stronger immune system for the soul, and modern research backs this up.

[SPEAKER_00]: Guys, they've done studies and they've found that people who sagiz, people who laugh often, people who live in community, people who belong to something larger than themselves, live longer and healthier lives.

[SPEAKER_00]: There is wisdom from scripture that signs its

[SPEAKER_00]: You can't have a healthy heart, and I don't just mean a physical heart, a soul heart, the Scripture talks about the inside of us.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can't have our healthy heart if it's full of hate.

[SPEAKER_00]: So as when Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, remove the excitation from your heart, this word means irritation or grief or anger that lingers too long.

[SPEAKER_00]: Bit ofness kind of has this way of lodging in our bones, in our constitution, that's the givenness releases all of that.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so today in the pursuit of a healthy heart, who do you need to forgive, not for their sake, but for yours?

[SPEAKER_00]: Who do you need to bless instead of blame?

[SPEAKER_00]: What relationship needs your investment rather than your resentment?

[SPEAKER_00]: And so, the problem is we don't get to live this perfectly.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know I've just outlined three things there and you might go, yeah, well, I'm trying, I'm trying to do that.

[SPEAKER_00]: But the answer here isn't just try hard to do better, and go again next time.

[SPEAKER_00]: The answer here is actually lean into the person of Jesus, who was our example, was our model,

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus purposeful pakes, when you think about the life of Jesus, the way that he walked and lived and moved.

[SPEAKER_00]: He never hurried.

[SPEAKER_00]: He never hustled.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was never ruled by the clock.

[SPEAKER_00]: John 17 verse 4, Jesus said, He talks to his father and he says, I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work you gave me to do.

John 17:4

[SPEAKER_00]: The goal, that's success.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that's the beautiful pace of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's the pace that I want us to lean into.

[SPEAKER_00]: The pace of Jesus to live at His purposeful pace.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because remember Jesus lived, it is earthly ministry, 33 years.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you might say, well, that wisdom didn't add years to his life.

[SPEAKER_00]: He only lived 33 years, but at those 33 years were abundant life that then resulted in resurrection and eternal life for you and for me.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think about Jesus' sleep.

[SPEAKER_00]: You have time, we have examples of Jesus sleeping and they're in particularly stressful situations.

[SPEAKER_00]: Remember when Jesus fell asleep from the boat in the storm?

[SPEAKER_00]: And there he was with his head on a pillow, sleeping away while all of the disciples are freaking out.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's not apathy, he wasn't just nodding off on the job, he was trusting.

[SPEAKER_00]: And here's the thing, the same Jesus that slept through the storm is in you.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so there is a deposit that's been given you by the Holy Spirit to help you sleep through the same kinds of storms.

[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't remove the storm straight away, he sleeps through it, and he's going to allow you to sleep through those same storms.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thirdly, we see Jesus, the compassion, the healthy heart that just that that forgives and that releases and that blesses.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus weeps with those who weeps.

[SPEAKER_00]: He touches lepers.

[SPEAKER_00]: He forgives betrayers.

[SPEAKER_00]: He loves enemies even on the cross.

[SPEAKER_00]: What did he say Father forgive them to?

[SPEAKER_00]: They do not know what they do and his broken heart on the cross heals ours.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so it's actually through union with Christ that

[SPEAKER_00]: to live through long days, to live through good sleep, to live through a healthy heart.

[SPEAKER_00]: More than any supplement, more than any other kind of wellness fad that's come to us in the last few years that's gonna tell you this is the latest and the greatest thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, why don't we go back to the, so on one of the oldest and wisest things in order to live really well.

[SPEAKER_00]: So three things that I'd love you to do this week as we close.

[SPEAKER_00]: The first one is check your pace.

[SPEAKER_00]: Is your pace shortening the life of your soul?

[SPEAKER_00]: If you can't hear the voice of God, it could be because you're sprinting through life rather than walking purposefully through it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Slow down, rear value at, let Jesus reset your tempo.

[SPEAKER_00]: Secondly, release your night.

[SPEAKER_00]: Every evening this week, before you scroll or jump on television, make a sacred exchange, give the Lord your day, and give the Lord your tomorrow.

[SPEAKER_00]: And say this, Lord, I trust you with the things that I can't control, and right now I'm going to go to sleep knowing that you never sleep.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's a better way.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then thirdly, invest in love.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's pick some relationships this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, whether or not an perfect time right now to reevaluate our relationships, why don't you invest in one this week?

[SPEAKER_00]: Why don't you release someone this week?

[SPEAKER_00]: forgive where it's needed, encourage someone where it's needed, because bitterness ages you it will continue to draw you down and age you, but love renews us from the inside out.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so,

[SPEAKER_00]: You could go to the pharmacy and grab whole bunch of things up the shelf.

[SPEAKER_00]: Things that are going to make you faster.

[SPEAKER_00]: Why is our smart, healthier, heart, sleep better?

[SPEAKER_00]: But then we hear the voice of Jesus say, come to me.

[SPEAKER_00]: All who are weary and burdened, then I'll give you rest.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's not a supplement.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's the Savior speaking.

[SPEAKER_00]: roaring us in air.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus is the long life that does not end.

[SPEAKER_00]: He is the deep sleep that calms every storm.

[SPEAKER_00]: He is the healthy heart that beats with loves for you and for me.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's resurrection life and so we don't just need a new health plan, guys, we need a new center for our soul and wisdom shows us how to get there.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not just wellness, it's all about homelessness and so let's pray.

[SPEAKER_00]: Father, we thank you that you are drawing us to a new center, a deep place of communion with your son.

[SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus today, I pray, that you would through your wisdom and through your empowerment and through the great grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ at years to our lives.

[SPEAKER_00]: Would you add, he's in the storm in a deep sleep, and Lord also life and nourishment to our bones and to our heart, because we find it in you.

[SPEAKER_00]: In Jesus' name, hey Matt.