Viva Vitamins!

Recently, Naomi has been very eager to request from Daniel or me her daily supply of vitamins (Nutrilite Chewables - Multivitamin and Iron Supplement & Nutrilite Chewable Calcium Magnesium). Since I rarely offer Caleb and Naomi sweets, she treats these supplements as 'sweets'. Caleb, who is usually non-chalant about such stuff, has become slightly more interested in his daily intake of vitamins, thanks to his sister's enthusiasm. Between the two types of supplements, they love the Multivitamin and Iron Supplement more as they enjoy the delicious natural orange flavour. The tablets are naturally sweetened with fructose and one tablet provides substantial amounts of ten vitamins (A, B1, B2, niacin, B6, folic acid, B12, C, D, E) and iron.

The other supplement, Chewable Calcium Magnesium, is chocolate flavoured and one tablet provides 270mg calcium and 50mg magnesium. Calcium plays a vital role in the early years of a child's development as well as maintaining good bone health for adults. Magnesium aids in the metabolism of calcium. Chewing the tablets results in quicker absorption of minerals. Since the children's supplements are also suitable for adult consumption and they taste so much better than mine, I sometimes take them too.!

I am not particularly strict with the children's supplement regimen. Even when I, or the children, forget about it, it does not cause me to fret over their physical well-being. My senior pastor, Pastor Joseph Prince, once preached that we are saved (from eternal separation from God, sicknesses and diseases, poverty and lack, and every other curse) through redemption (what Jesus has already accomplished for us at the cross), not creation (going back to what Adam and Eve ate in the Garden of Eden).

Many sincere Christians are still depending on eating a certain diet and/or clocking hours of exercise to be healthy. I am not implying that we should, therefore, be irresponsible with what we consume or how we mind our bodies, the temple of the Holy Spirit. If you enjoy eating only fruits and vegetables and eating them raw, then, by all means, eat! And if you enjoy exercising (some people like sweating it out) and spending hours in the gym, then exercise! However, do not do these things out of fear or in order to be healthy, especially if you are a Christian. As a Christian, I am whole and healthy today because I believe Jesus has taken upon Himself every curse of sicknesses at the cross. Isaiah 53:5 says,"...and by His stripes we are healed." Jesus' beatings (not mine) have given me both the forgiveness of sins and divine health and wholeness. Nothing that I do can add to or subtract from Jesus' finished work. What a complete and perfect sacrifice!

Vitamins, healthful food, exercise, etc. are excellent, but Jesus' redemptive work at the cross surpasses them all! Daniel and I often remind ourselves and the children, through the partaking of the Holy Communion, that we are blessed (spirit, soul and body) simply because Jesus has borne all our curses, and our trust is in the LORD!

God's Beloved