True Temperance
At the time the light of health reform dawned upon
us, and since that time, the questions have come home every
day, "Am I practicing true temperance in all things?" "Is
my diet such as will bring me in a position where I can
accomplish the greatest amount of good?" If we cannot
answer these questions in the affirmative, we stand
condemned before God, for He will hold us all responsible for
the light which has shone upon our path. The time of
ignorance God winked at, but as fast as light shines upon
us, He requires us to change our health-destroying habits,
and place ourselves in a right relation to physical laws.
Health is a treasure
Of all temporal possessions it
is the most precious. Wealth, learning, and honor are dearly
purchased at the loss of the vigor of health. None of these
can secure happiness, if health is lacking. It is a terrible sin
to abuse the health that God has given us; such abuses
enfeeble us for life, and make us losers, even if we gain by
such means any amount of education. God has bountifully provided for the sustenance and
happiness of all His creatures; if His laws were never
violated, if all acted in harmony with the divine will, health,
peace, and happiness, instead of misery and continual evil,
would be the result. A careful conformity to the laws God has implanted
in our being, will ensure health, and there will not be a
breaking down of the constitution.
An Offering Without Blemish
In the ancient Jewish service it was required that
every sacrifice should be without blemish. In the text we are
told to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is our reasonable service. We are God's
workmanship. The psalmist, meditating upon the marvelous
work of God in the human frame, exclaimed, "I am fearfully
and wonderfully made." There are many who are
educated in the sciences and are familiar with the theory of
the truth, who do not understand the laws that govern their
own being. God has given us faculties and talents; and it is
our duty, as His sons and daughters, to make the best use of
them. If we weaken these powers of mind or body by wrong
habits or indulgence of perverted appetite, it will be
impossible for us to honor God as we should.
A Living Sacrifice
God requires the body to be rendered a living sacrifice
to Him, not a dead or a dying sacrifice. The offerings of the
ancient Hebrews were to be without blemish, and will it be
pleasing to God to accept a human offering that is filled with
disease and corruption? He tells us that our body is the
temple of the Holy Ghost; and He requires us to take care
of this temple, that it may be a fit habitation for His Spirit.
The apostle Paul gives us this admonition: "Ye are not your
own; for ye are bought with a price; therefore, glorify God
in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." All
should be very careful to preserve the body in the best
condition of health, that they may render to God perfect service,
and do their duty in the family and in society.
A Pitiful Offering
Knowledge must be gained in regard to how to eat,
and drink, and dress so as to preserve health. Sickness is
caused by violating the laws of health; it is the result of
violating nature's law. Our first duty, one which we owe to
God, to ourselves, and to our fellow men, is to obey the laws
of God, which include the laws of health. If we are sick,
we impose a weary tax upon our friends, and unfit ourselves
for discharging our duties to our families and to our
neighbors. And when premature death is the result of our
violation of nature's law, we bring sorrow and suffering to
others; we deprive our neighbors of the help we ought to
render them in living; we rob our families of the comfort
and help we might render them, and rob God of the service
He claims of us to advance His glory. Then, are we not,
in the worst sense, transgressors of God's law?
God's Tender Mercy
But God is all-pitiful, gracious, and tender, and when
light comes to those who have injured their health by sinful
indulgences, and they are convinced of sin, and repent and
seek pardon, He accepts the poor offering rendered to Him,
and receives them. Oh, what tender mercy that He does
not refuse the remnant of the abused life of the suffering,
repenting sinner! In His gracious mercy, He saves these
souls as by fire. But what an inferior, pitiful sacrifice at
best, to offer to a pure and holy God! Noble faculties have
been paralyzed by wrong habits of sinful indulgence. The
aspirations are perverted, and the soul and body defaced. The Lord has let His light shine upon us in these
last days, that the gloom and darkness which have been
gathering in past generations because of sinful indulgence,
might in some degree be dispelled, and that the train of
evils which have resulted because of intemperate eating and
drinking, might be lessened.
Why the Light on Health Reform
The Lord in wisdom designed to bring His people into a
position where they would be separate from the world in
spirit and practice, that their children might not so readily
be led into idolatry, and become tainted with the prevailing
corruption of this age. It is God's design that believing
parents and their children should stand forth as living
representatives of Christ, candidates for everlasting life. All who
are partakers of the divine nature will escape the corruption
that is in the world through lust. It is impossible for those
who indulge the appetite to attain to Christian perfection.
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