I don't believe a doctor exists who, truly caring for the health of his patients more than his own livelihood, would say cure is more valuable than prevention.  Even so, only a tiny portion of health care resources are devoted to prevention.  America spends more for health care than any other nation; yet, only three percent of the total amount spent is for prevention and public health.

We pay out a great deal more trying to bring back good health after it is lost than in maintaining it.  We take our health for granted.  We envision ourselves as tough.  As young people we adopt poor habits as though invincible.  As old people we continue them pleading it's too hard to teach old dogs new tricks.  It is therefore a simple truism that we do not regard prevention as we should.

When St. John wrote his first pastoral epistle, he wanted God's people to know the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, is more than a curative.  Certainly, the shed blood of our Savior heals.  Twice in succession, John writes, "The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin," and then again, "It cleanses us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:7, 9).

But the Bible is not content to present only a remedial Christ.  A Jesus simply "on call" to step in when things go badly is not the Christ of Scripture.  Jesus is not simply a fixer.

I remember very well a woman who once urgently asked me to come to her home because she was in such distress.  That very morning her physician had diagnosed cancer, and the news fueled a desperate need to bring Jesus into the case.  With tears and laminations the woman voiced her woe.  Clearly Christ was needed and together we entreated His help in prayer and opened Scripture to be refreshed under His promises.  The following Sunday she was in the Lord's house for the first time I could recall.

Jesus mends the broken heart.  He treats our fears and failures by making them his own and lifting them from our shoulders.  But He does not just fix or patch.  He gives a whole new life.

As it turned out, the testing on which this doctor had based his diagnosis was incorrect.  A few days later the unhappy report was overturned.  Blessedly, there was no cancer.  However, this time I learned of it second-hand because there was no urgency any more for her; no reason to race over and ask a prayer of thanks.  Nothing needed to be fixed anymore.  Jesus was, once again, beside the point.  The following Sunday one less was in the Lord's house.

Let us not overlook what St. John wrote, "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin." 

All the wonderful truth of Christ the eternal life who was made known to us, who is light, and in whom there is no darkness at all, is revealed so that we will not sin, fear, or falter.  He is with us to prevent that!

Christ is Savior, but the Father has given us His Son also to spare us from the perils and enemies that would menace us.  It is as grievous to decline the protective Word of God as it would be to deny the forgiving Word of God.

We are called to walk in light as He is in the light (1:7), not to walk in darkness and only keep His number handy.  It short changes Christ to ever imagine we only need him provisionally, that He's good for fixing but not for preserving.

The day to day beauty of Christ as our life is not only the forgiving of sin, but also that He preserves, protects, and safeguards the righteousness delivered to us in Baptism.  Our Lord looks after us both coming and going.  It is such a privilege to come to God's house not only to be forgiven but to be strengthened so as not to sin again.  Of course, if we do sin, St. John assures us we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the propitiation for our sins. 

But we also have the righteous way of life laid out before us to be free of offenses, untouched by anxiety, and unharmed by sin.  That's why we sing in the hymn, "Thy mercies, how tender, how firm to the end, Our maker, defender, redeemer, and friend!