The Lord Is My Physician, So Do I Need Regular Checkups with an Earthly One?

God, who declares Himself to be your Physician, never requires you to see an earthly physician.  Jesus said that the sick need a physician (Matthew 9:12, Mark 2:17, Luke 5:31) but He never said that the well need one.  Are you sick?  If so, you need a physician.  If you are not sick, the Bible does not order you to see a physician.  However, most Christians today DO need an earthly physician because very few have reached the point where they could believe God for healing for everything, no matter how drastic or life-threatening.  If there is any doubt in your mind about it, keep seeing your earthly physician.

God won’t be upset with you if you go in for routine tests to see if you possibly have any diseases.  Going to a physician does not make you sick.  If you’re sick, your doctor visit only reveals that fact, which could be useful or in some cases could even save your life.

My wife’s family was written up in a national medical journal for having an unheard-of issue with high cholesterol and deaths due to heart issues.  Many of her family members had the same problem.  When yet another was diagnosed with four complete blood vessel blockages and numerous partial ones, she decided that it would be wise to get checked out by an earthly physician for the same condition.  She had been in faith all along and had seen her cholesterol level drop over 80% as a result!  (Now THAT is a spectacular result, and all we did was speak to the condition in the name of Jesus and command it to leave.)  But the devil had tried to whisper to her that she would fall prey to the same condition that had claimed so many relatives.  So she went to the doctor, not to find out what was wrong, but to prove that she DIDN’T have anything wrong.  The doctor ran tests and gave her the great news that her circulatory system was unusually healthy for her age and showed no signs of the problem that had vexed her family.  At the point there was no more temptation to take the devil’s taunts seriously about the matter.

She wasn’t SICK and she didn’t NEED a physician to deal with sickness; she went when she was well.  I had no problem with that.  I have no problem if you go to the doctor to determine if you have an issues.

On the other hand, Jesus won’t be upset if you’re truly in faith and you don’t get a regular checkup, as He never said that the well need a physician.  In fact, He said that they didn’t.  However, I can almost assure you that you will have family members who will quite upset with you if you don’t get checkups.  The matter is between you, God, and your family!

There are two kinds of people who won’t go to the doctor as a matter of course.  The first kind is the person who is so sure of his faith and so confident in God and His Word that he doesn’t see the need to go.  The second kind is the person who is in fear of what the doctor might say.  Sometimes such a person has been experiencing some kind of symptoms and is afraid that he might have cancer or clogged arteries or some other life-threatening condition.  He tells himself that if he has not been officially diagnosed with something, he doesn’t have it.  That is stupid and possibly life-ending.  Going to the doctor does not give you a disease.  If you are avoiding the doctor because of how he might diagnose your symptoms, you need to get of fear, then get out of your house and get into the doctor’s office.

If you decide that you don’t want to have a personal doctor, make sure that you know which of the two categories above describes you!

I have not had a regular doctor at any time in my adult life at this writing, though I’m being told I need to get one soon for Medicare purposes.  I have never been for a routine physical or other periodic test since I was a minor, much to the annoyance of some relatives who are concerned for me even though I’ve stayed in good health.  That is my choice.  However, I have proven on several occasions that I can believe God for healing in severe situations.  The fact that I don’t go to the doctor doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t go.  And I DID go during a bout with a kidney stone a long time ago.  Although I didn’t have a family doctor, I did have to talk to specialists at that time.  If I ever decided that I was not in a position to receive a healing by faith, or if something appeared to be life-threatening, I would go to the doctor.  I was once gouged by a horsefly and the wound got badly infected.  I went to a walk-in clinic and got antibiotics.  I didn’t want to mess with that infection.  So I am not against going to doctors when you need them, and neither is God!