Daily Devotional

If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. Matt. 17:20, 21, NIV.

"There is a mountain of illness out there," said the nurse.

"There is a mountain of ignorance out there," said the teacher.

"There is a mountain of crime out there," said the judge.

"There is a mountain of poverty out there," said the social worker.

"Yes, there is," said the wise one, "and it's all the same mountain."

A national telephone survey published in 1994 by the Daniel Yankelovich Group asked 1,000 adult Americans, "What creates health?" They concluded:

• People are discouraged about the health of their communities.
• The public has a new concept of what creates health, one that shifts away from the idea of mere disease avoidance and toward the active pursuit of wellness.
• Family security dominates perceptions about healthy communities.
• The public is ready to play a more proactive role in the health of their communities.

According to a 1994 statement by the U.S. Health Corporation, "the concept of a healthy community is a simple one, rooted in the recognition that the major determinants of health have little to do with the health-care system. Rather, health is determined by equitable access to such basic prerequisites for health as food, shelter, clean air and water, adequate resources, education, income, a safe physical environment, social supports, and so on."

The question is Are we as Christians ready to get involved in making our communities more healthy places to live? Jesus said that faith as small as a mustard seed could move a mountain.

But moving the mountain of illness, ignorance, crime, and poverty will require active faith. We must work together with everyone interested in the health of our communities—educators, law enforcement agencies, local governments, business leaders, and others—to address the fundamental issues affecting our communities. Together we can move mountains and build healthy communities—places where people care for each other, education is valued, work and play are honored, children are loved and the elderly are esteemed, and where neighbors laugh and cry together. Such communities will provide protection for the weak, opportunity for the strong, healing for the ill and infirm, and growth for all.

What can you do today to build a healthy community where you live?

Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.