Indispensable Duty – “Health Reform”

“For years the Lord has been calling the attention of His people to health reform. This is one of the great branches of the work of preparation for the coming of the Son of Man.

“John the Baptist went forth in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare the way of the Lord and to turn the people to the wisdom of the just. He was a representative of those living in these last days, to whom God has entrusted sacred truths to present before the people, to prepare the way for the second appearing of Christ. John was a reformer. The angel Gabriel, direct from heaven, gave a discourse upon health reform to the Father and Mother of John. He said he should not drink wine or strong drink, and that he should be filled with the Holy Ghost from his birth.” Counsels on Health, p. 72.

“Our bodies are not our own. God has claims upon us to take care of the habitation He has given us, that we may present our bodies to Him a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable. Our bodies belong to Him who made them, and we are duty bound to become intelligent in regard to the best means of preserving them from decay. If we enfeeble the body by self-gratification, by indulging the appetite, and by dressing in accordance with the health destroying fashions, in order to be in harmony with the world, we become the enemies of God…

“The people whom God is leading will be peculiar. They will not be like the world. But if they follow the leadings of God, they will accomplish His purpose and will yield their will to His will, Christ will dwell in the heart. The temple of God will be holy. Your body, says the apostle, is the temple of the Holy Ghost.” Counsels on Health, p. 73, 74.

“After He was taken as a captive to Babylon as a young man, and while studying in the royal courts of king Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel decided not to defile himself with the King’s rich food, nor with the wine. After partaking of nothing but vegetables and water for a period of only ten days, he was found to be healthier and stronger than all the young men who had been eating the royal food.” Daniel 1:1-16. The appeal is now that we should not defile our bodies for any reason as they are the holy temples of God. The apostle says, “Don’t you realize that you yourselves are the temple of God, and that God’s spirit lives in you? God will destroy anyone who defiles His temple, for His temple is holy-that is exactly what you are!” 1 Cor. 3:17.

“We are in a world that is opposed to righteousness, or purity of character, and especially to growth in grace. Wherever we look, we see defilement and corruption, deformity, and sin. How opposed is all this to the work that must be accomplished in us just previous to receiving the gift of immortality! God’s elect must stand untainted amid the corruptions teeming around them in these last days. Their bodies must be made holy, their spirits pure.

“If this work is to be accomplished it must be undertaken at once, earnestly and understandingly.” CDF, pgs. 118,119.

A HIGH CALLING

As we near the close of time we must rise higher and still higher upon the question of health reform, by precept and practice people need to be educated. “Ignorance is no excuse now for the transgression of law, for the great God Himself is man’s instructor. All are bound by the sacred obligations to God to heed the sound philosophy and genuine experience which He is now giving them in reference to health reform. He designs that the great subject of health reform shall be agitated, and the public mind deeply stirred to investigate; for it is impossible for men and women, with their sinful health-destroying, brain-enervating habits, to discern sacred truth, through which they are to be sanctified, refined, elevated, and made fit for the society of heavenly angels in the kingdom of glory.” CDF, pg. 70.

“It is a duty to know how to preserve the body in the very best condition of health, and it is a sacred duty to live up to the light which God has graciously given. If we close our eyes to the light for fear we shall see our wrongs, which we are unwilling to forsake, our sins are not lessened, but increased.” CDF, pg. 44.

“The human family have brought upon themselves diseases of various forms by their own wrong habits. They have not studied on how to live healthfully, and their transgression of the laws of their being has produced a deplorable state of things. The people have seldom accredited their sufferings to the true cause—their own wrong course of action. They have indulged in intemperance in eating, and made a god of their appetite. In all their habits they manifested a recklessness in regard to health and life; and when, as a result sickness has come upon them they have made themselves to believe that God was the author of it, when their own wrong course of action has brought the sure result.” CDF, p. 121.

A LOOK AT OUR DESTINY

It was not the Lord’s will that man should live 50-70 years as it is now, but as a result of man’s sinful nature (disobedience) the days were shortened and shall be shortened even more and more. The first man lived hundreds of years and they had health of high quality, whereas today people are living for only 70 years and with numberless sorrows.

All this is as a result of a perverted appetite which was the very successful weapon that Satan used to fell man from his glorious and most preferred state to a deplorable condition of miserable sorrows, and all unbecoming behaviours in every aspect which is prevailing today in man’s habitation (mortal state).

“As men multiplied upon the earth after the flood, they again forgot God, and corrupted their ways before Him. Intemperance in every form increased, until almost the whole world was given up to its sway. Entire cities have been swept from the face of the earth because of the debasing crimes and revolting iniquity that made them a blot upon the fair of God’s created works. The gratification of unnatural appetite led to the sins that caused the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. God ascribes the fall of Babylon to her gluttony and drunkenness. Indulgence of appetite and passion was the foundation of all their sins.” CDF, p. 147.

“The creator of man has arranged the living machinery of our bodies. Every function is wonderfully and wisely made. And has pledged Himself to keep this human machinery in healthful action if the human agent will obey His laws and co-operate with God. Every law governing the human machinery is to be considered just as truly divine in origin, in character, and in importance as the word of God. Every careless inattentive action, any abuse put upon the Lord’s wonderful mechanism, by disregarding His specified laws in the human habitation, is a violation of God’s law. We may behold and admire the work of God in the natural world, but the human habitation is the most wonderful.” MM, pg. 221.

Perfect health depends upon perfect circulation. The main reason why many become invalids is that the blood does not circulate freely, and the changes in the vital fluids, which are necessary to life and health, do not take place. They have not given their bodies exercise, their lung’s food, which is pure, fresh air. Therefore it is impossible for the blood to be vitalized, and it pursues it’s course sluggishly through the system. The more we exercise the better will be the circulation of blood. More people die for want of exercise than through over-fatigue, many people rust out rather than wear out. Those who desire health, and who would enjoy an active life, should remember that they cannot have these without a good circulation.

In the creation of man God designed that he should be active and useful, yet many live in this world as useless machines, as though they hardly existed.

Exercise will assist the work of digestion, to walk out after a meal, hold the head erect, put back the shoulders, and exercise moderately, will be of great benefit. The mind will be directed from self to the beauties of nature. The less the attention is called to the stomach after a meal, the better.

EATING A PRINCIPLE

“That which we eat cannot be converted into good blood unless it is of a proper quality, simple and nutritious. The stomach cannot convert sour bread into sweet, so food poorly prepared is not nutritious and cannot make good blood.” Test. Vol. 2, p. 537. As blood depends upon the food eaten so as all life function depends upon the blood; as life itself depends upon the blood, so every character depends on the state of the physiological functions of the organs thereof. When our blood is impure and poisoned, we tend to be harsh, restless, and fatigued, in the sense that the blood is clogged so as to inconvenience the normal functions of the eliminating organs. So, in this condition one’s intellectual powers will be lower, one’s abilities of discernment wears out. Also in this state of blood being impure, we can easily get infected with diseases, since germs easily find a way to invade the organs.

The spirit of prophecy says “disease never comes without a cause. A way is open and it gets in.” Besides this, consuming of foods rich in carbohydrates and protein, “cereals and grains” normally leaves the digestive system and the eliminating organs with some waste matters that need to eliminated by a simple way, that of eating fruits and vegetables for at least a period of ten days. In this manner of eliminating we will ensure that our system is to be without impurities; although we observe the laws of eating, this is essential for our health. These things which fret and derange the stomach will have a benumbing influence upon the finer feelings of the heart. Food should be prepared in a good order so that it is palatable. Poor cooking slowly wears away the life energies. Unless the food is prepared in a wholesome palatable manner, it cannot be converted into good blood to build up the wasting tissues.

CONSECRATION WILL PAY

“There are many minds in many places to whom the Lord will surely give knowledge of how to prepare foods that are healthful and palatable, if He sees that they will use this knowledge righteously. Animals are becoming more and more diseased, and it will not be long until animal food will be discarded by many besides Seventh day Adventists. Foods that are healthful and life-sustaining are to be prepared, so that men and women will not need to eat meat.” 7T, pg. 124.

If people from all parts of the world will allow God to guide their minds, He will teach them how to combine fruits, grains, cereals, and vegetables into foods that will supply the body with the life giving properties and diseased cases will be greatly decreased.

“Indulging in eating too frequently, and in too large quantities, overtaxes the digestive organs, and produces a feverish state of the system. The blood becomes impure, and diseases of various kinds occur.” CDF, p. 189. Therefore it is important for us all to understand the knowledge of nature’s remedial agencies and the best way of applying them.

“There are many ways of practicing the healing art; but there is only one way that heaven approves. God’s remedies are the simple agencies of nature, that will not tax or debilitate the system through their powerful properties. Pure air and water, cleanliness, a proper diet, purity of life, and a firm trust in God, are remedies for the want of which thousands are dying, yet these remedies are going out of date because their skillful use requires work that the people do not appreciate.” CDF, p. 301.

LORD THE AUTHOR & FINISHER OF HEALING

Nature’s process of healing and building up is gradual, and to the impatient it seems slow. The surrender of hurtful indulgences requires sacrifice. But in the end it will be found that nature, untrammeled, does her work wisely and well. Those who persevere in obedience to her laws will reap the reward in health of body and of mind.

“The Saviour in His miracles revealed the power that is continually at work in man’s behalf, to sustain and to heal him. Through the agencies of nature, God is working, day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment, to keep us alive, to build up and restore us. When part of the body sustains injury, a healing process is at once begun. Nature’s agencies are set at work to restore soundness. But the power working through these agencies is the power of God. All life-giving power is from Him. When one recovers from disease, it is God who restores him.” Counsels on Health, p. 168.

“I am the Lord who heals you.” Exodus 15:26. The Lord “forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercies.” Psalm 103:3, 4. The Lord’s desire is expressed in the words of John. “Beloved I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.” 3 John 2.

May we all strive to attain the Heavenly temperament.
AMEN.

George Onyacha